Devotion
by Harkura
Summary: After freezing in a battle Kurama has been turned human. Everyone's memories of him has been erased, leaving Hiei to watch over him just like he watches over his sister, from the shadows. HxK better Summary inside. Last Chapter has arrived!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: After freezing in a battle Kurama has been turned human. Everyone's memories of him has been erased, leaving Hiei to watch over him just like he watches over his sister, from the shadows. That is until, Kurama gets into a fight with Yusuke, which awakens his demonside. Forcing Hiei to protect him from someone they all thought was dead. H/K

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Hiei looked up at the sky, then out at the dying sun. The sun's red rays reminded him of blood. Made him remember all the blood he had spilt. He did not regret what he had done, nor would he ever. All the demons he had killed with his sword or by his own hands, was not something he concerned himself with. It never was and never would be, but Kurama was different. And he would always be different from Hiei, but it was Kurama's difference from Hiei that had almost killed him.

It had happened a year ago on an assignment. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei were to track down a demon that was slaughtering humans. It seemed like a simple black and white mission, but it wasn't.

The mission went quick, and the demon was disposed of quickly. But not without some complications, the demon looked so much like Yoko Kurama it was unnerving. Which caused Kurama to freeze up during the battle. They had all hoped that everything would go back to normal after the demon had been killed, but it didn't.

Kurama got sick, the doctor said it was all in his head, but Hiei knew better to think it was just Kurama. Hiei would visit Kurama every day, and every day Kurama got paler and weaker.

Hiei went to Koenma. At first, Koenma said he couldn't do anything about it, but Hiei wouldn't except that. Finally, after much "convincing" by Hiei, Koenma said that there was something he could do; the only thing was…

"I could 'suppress' Kurama's demon side, until Kurama subconsciously decided he could fight again. Until then Kurama would be fully human and have no knowledge of demons or the spirit world --- or us," explained Koenma, "Hiei, do you understand that if Kurama is fully human and a demon goes after him, he could get killed."

"Kurama could die now, turn him human, let him forget. I'll worry about his safety," replied Hiei.

Now Kurama was human, he did forget and so did most around him. Yusuke and Kuwabara were made to forget, so was Botan (otherwise, she would ruin everything with her big mouth). Everyone at Kurama's school had their memories modified; they knew nothing of Suichi Midamino's absences or his "friends" outside of school.

Hiei was one of the few in spirit world who remembered Kurama and knew who he was, what he was capable of. Hiei now watched over Kurama, or rather Suichi, like he watched over his sister Yukina, in the shadows from a distance.

**Chapter 1 **

The students of Meio Private Academy were gathered in the hall looking at the posted grades from the last test.

"Did Suichi get first again?" asked one girl, who couldn't see over the crowd.

"No, Kaito finally beat him," answered a boy.

"What?" replied the same girl.

"Yeah, but they were both beaten by that new kid," said another boy.

The girl looked at her friend surprised.

Suichi sat at a desk next to the window reading a book, when Kaito walked in with a look of suppressed triumph on his face. He walked over to Suichi, closely watched by a black haired kid standing next to the door.

"How does it feel, Suichi, knowing that I've beaten you," said Kaito.

Suichi looked at Kaito out of the corner of his eye, but didn't respond.

"Has the world of Suichi Midamino come to a sudden halt?" asked Kaito.

"Yes, Kaito. The world has stopped spinning," replied Suichi caustically.

Kaito's eyes narrowed in anger, but Suichi ignored him continuing, "In fact there is asteroid at this moment hurtling itself at the earth, because I did not achieve a higher score then you. No, the sun has turned itself off plunging this world, as we know it into darkness and creating the new ice age, because I did not achieve a higher score then you. Aliens have now shown themselves to us, proving that there is indeed a more intelligent life form here, and that life form is you, Kaito."

"Cynical bastard," muttered Kaito stalking out of the room.

"Wait, I'm not done yet!" called Suichi.

The boy standing next to the door smirked in amusement. Suichi looked over at him.

"At least you thought it was funny, I was beginning to think that there was no one left in this school with a good sense of humor," said Suichi returning to his book.

After school, Suichi walked home intending to do his homework and basically staying inside the rest of the day, that was until some girls from his caught him and "talked" him into going with them somewhere. As Suichi was lead away he thought he saw someone following them.

When they reached, where ever it was they were going, he wasn't really paying attention when the two girls had told him, Suichi noticed that there actually wasn't anyone following them, so he just assumed that it was his imagination.

Suichi looked around for a sign so he knew where he was. The sign above the door said "Karaoke Club." The two girls' that had led him to the club walked in, Suichi followed them.

"Hay, Suichi. What are you doing here?" asked a boy from his school.

"Had nothing better to do, I guess," replied Suichi.

"Had nothing better to do? Why aren't you studying for the next test, you came in third right?" asked a boy that Suichi didn't recognize. The boy had slicked back black hair and was wearing the uniform of one of the pubic high schools.

"Who are you and how the heck do you know that?" asked Suichi.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I haven't introduced myself yet have I? My name is Yusuke Urameshi and I was informed by one of your classmates."

"Oh yeah, I recognize that name, I heard you were the number one thug at Sarayashiki, but you have a soft side reserved only for you girlfriend, how cute. I also know that your grades are the second worst at your current school, so why are you scolding me on my study habits when you just beat last place on your last test?" said Suichi.

"It seems my reputation precedes me," stated Yusuke giving a small shrug.

"I'm surprised you even know that word, Urameshi," replied Suichi.

"What?" said Yusuke.

"Precedes, it almost makes you sound intelligent, did your girlfriend teach it to you?" asked Suichi.

"Don't you dare talk about Keiko that way," threatened Yusuke.

The same black haired kid who was in Suichi's class and thought his sarcastic remarks were amusing, turned his attention to Suichi and Yusuke.

"Keiko…Keiko Yukimura? She can do way better then you," said Suichi, who had previously met Keiko, who was on the honor roll because of her high grades.

Yusuke's eyes narrowed, he was ready to kill Suichi Midamino. The black haired kid moved to stand behind Suichi, Suichi didn't notice, but Yusuke did.

"What's wrong Urameshi I thought you were going to hit me," said Suichi.

"Why bother your as weak as a little girl, I would I want to waste my time on you?" asked Yusuke.

Suichi punched Yusuke in the stomach winding him, "Who's the little girl now, pal?"

"Nice punch," said Yusuke.

"Thanks," replied Suichi.

Yusuke took a fighting stance.

"Shouldn't we move this outside," suggested Suichi gesturing to the door.

"Sure, after you," said Yusuke.

"Ladies first," said Suichi.

Yusuke and Suichi stood out on the street surrounded by their peers. Yusuke had taken a fighting stance, but Suichi just stood there with his eyes closed.

"Well," called Yusuke, "You gonna fight or what."

"I already took the first shot, it's your turn," said Suichi.

"Your going to regret that," said Yusuke running at Suichi.

Yusuke took a shot at Suichi's head; Suichi just dodged without opening his eyes. Yusuke tried repeatedly to hit him, but every time Suichi dodged, until Yusuke fake him out, going for a punch but switching at the least instant and kick him in the stomach.

From then on Suichi started losing, getting beat badly, until he was laid out on the ground. Yusuke was going to finish him off, but the black haired kid stopped him saying, "Alright that's enough."

"Who the heck are you?" asked Yusuke.1

"My name is Hiei, I'm a classmate of Suichi here and I think he's learned his lesson."

"Fine," said Yusuke.

Everyone left disappointed that the fight was over, which left Hiei and Suichi alone.

"I didn't need your help," said Suichi standing.

"Somebody had to save you from your idiocy," said Hiei.

"What the heck does that mean?" asked Suichi.

"You just picked a fight with Yusuke Urameshi," replied Hiei.

"Your point?" asked Suichi.

"Lets put it this way, if I hadn't stepped in you would have been killed, almost quite literally," answered Hiei.

"Whatever, Who are you anyway?' asked Suichi starting to walk away.

"What, didn't you hear me introduce myself?" asked Hiei following him.

"No, I heard your name, but you said you were a classmate of mine and I don't remember seeing you," explained Suichi.

"Are you blind? I'm only in everyone of your classes," said Hiei.

"You are? Were do you sit?" asked Suichi looking over at Hiei.

"Normally in the back why?" answered Hiei.

"Well, that's probably why. I tend to sit towards the front," Suichi shrugged.

"To bad that didn't help your grade on the last test, I would have loved to see Kaito's face when he saw that the new kid beat Suichi Midamino before he could," said Hiei.

"Who got first?" asked Suichi.

"You kidding, did you even look at the scores?" asked Hiei.

"No, I never have, normally I get first, so I don't need to," answered Suichi.

"Moving from first to third that's a big drop," stated Hiei.

"I guess, so back to my original question, who got first?" asked Suichi.

"I did," said Hiei looking at his watch, "I gotta go, I'll see you at school tomorrow, Suichi."

"Yeah, bye," said Suichi as Hiei turned and walked away. Suichi walked home, thinking about Hiei, he had the strangest feeling of déjà vu.

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A/N: So here we are again…you'll notice not much has changed from the first time around. I just needed to fix a couple things so it would agree with later chapters. The story has basically taken on a life of it's own and it's decided to go a different way from my original idea, which I no longer remember.

1. Koenma has given Hiei a human form that looks slightly different from his demon one. Which is Yusuke wasn't sure who he was, though Yusuke did have an idea.


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm surround in a fog, I cannot see. I hear movement around me I turn. I see a form of a man in the mist; he is standing there doing nothing. I hear a cry of pain from far away someone is dying._

_The fog is lifted, I see the man dead, lying in his own blood. I hear sirens, I do not move. I look for the man's killer, I see no one. I look back at the man, but he is gone. My vision is blurred._

_I look around; I am standing in a dark room. A woman and her young daughter are lying on the ground. They are both covered in blood, both dead. I look at them feeling nothing. Again, I look for the killer, still unaware, still not knowing. I look back at the woman and the young girl, then at my hands. My right hand is holding a knife, covered in blood. I take a step back, dropping the knife._

_I look back up, I see myself covered in blood that is not my own. I close my eyes, not wanting to believe, but knowing that I killed that man, that I killed the women and her daughter._

_I hear voices; they are telling me it's not my fault, that I did not kill anyone. They are trying to convince me that I am innocent, but I know that they are lying to me. I saw myself killing those people without mercy, without care._

_The voices persist, continually telling me that I am innocent, thinking that it's making things better. I want to yell I want to tell them to stop, tell them that I know they are lying, but I can't. I try to make my voice work._

_Suddenly, the voices stop. I am left in an eerie silence. I realize that I am alone and I forget who I am. I see two people standing in front of me in the darkness. They walk closer to me, I see my mother she is smiling, and she doesn't know what I've done. I know that she would never find out._

_I look at the person standing next to my mother. I recognize the uniform but not the face. Memories come flooding back to me. Hiei…I could tell by the look on his face that he knew. Hiei knew that I had killed those people._

_I stared at Hiei and he stared back at me. It was, as if I could read his thoughts, I knew that he wouldn't tell anyone. I knew I could trust him. I knew that he would protect me from what I had done. I had only met him yesterday. I had only known him for moments, but I knew. Some how I knew. I knew that he wouldn't betray me._

**Chapter 2 **

Suichi woke up just before dawn; he had had the strangest dream. But he could only remember flashes. Fog…Blood…his mother…Hiei. It was all a blur. He questioned himself on what could have triggered that dream. When he could come up with nothing, Suichi tried to get back to sleep. But it was no use the dream hunted him and kept him awake, so he had no choice but to get up.

Suichi looked at his alarm clock on his bedside table. 5:30, it wasn't that early but he could have slept for another half an hour. Shrugging Suichi went though his normal morning routine.

He was ready for school at 6, but he didn't have to leave for another 45minutes. His mother had already left for work, so Suichi decided to go to school early.

Suichi took his time getting to school, when he got there he saw someone sitting on the wall that surrounded the school. As he got closer, Suichi realized it was Hiei.

"Funny meeting you here," said Suichi.

Hiei looked over at him, then jumped off the wall. Suichi walked up to him.

"Why are you here so early?" asked Hiei.

"Why are you?" replied Suichi.

"I always come here this early, what about you," answered Hiei.

"I woke up earlier then usual," said Suichi.

"Well, they don't open the gates for another half an hour, so you've got a long wait," stated Hiei, looking at his watch.

"What about you?" asked Suichi leaning against the brick wall.

Hiei didn't answer; he just turned his gaze to the rising sun. Suichi stared at Hiei with ambivalence, thinking about the dream he had had.

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Suichi sat in language, half-listening to the teacher. His mind was torn between listening and thinking. Suichi was still haunted by his dream and it was the end of the day. The bell ending school sounded.

Suichi walked down the hallway, only semi aware of what was going on around him. He had just reached the door, when someone stopped him. Suichi turned to see Hiei.

"What?" said Suichi.

"Your homework, you forgot," replied Hiei handing Suichi a piece of paper.

"Oh, thanks," said Suichi, coming back to earth.

"You okay? You seem out of it today," said Hiei, semi concerned.

"Yeah, I was just visiting Mars," stated Suichi, reading the homework assignment. Suichi groaned.

"What?" asked Hiei.

"Pick a book, read it with a partner, then write a report on the book, each partner group will hand in one report," Suichi read out loud, "I loathe working with other people on assignments."

"Ditto," said Hiei, remembering that he didn't have a partner.

Suichi looked at Hiei.

"What?" asked Hiei.

"Why don't we work together," said Suichi as a statement more then a question.

Hiei considered it for a moment, "Only if I can pick the book."

"Fine," said Suichi, "I'll see you tomorrow."

'What did I get my self into?' Hiei asked himself.

As Suichi walked home, he noticed someone following him. So, he took a detour into an alley. Suichi recognized the guy to be someone from Kazuma Kuwabara's gang.

'_Dammnit, I guess they found out I fought with Urameshi,' _thought Suichi.

"Come out, Suichi. I know you're here," said the guy.

Suichi walked out from his hiding place, "Looking for someone?"

"Urameshi would like to talk to you," stated the guy.

"And I'm supposed to follow you, well then. Lead the way," said Suichi.

The guy led Suichi to an alleyway between two apartment buildings near the "school" boarders. Yusuke was waiting for him, but it wasn't just Yusuke, Kuwabara had apparently tagged along aw well.

"I'm surprised you had the guts to come, Suichi," stated Yusuke.

"And I'm surprised that you have the brain capacity to breathe, Urameshi," said Suichi caustically.

"You have a smart mouth, Suichi," commented Kuwabara sounding rather annoyed.

"It's a curse," replied Suichi.

Kuwabara made a suddenly violent movement, but Yusuke held him back from doing anything.

"Suichi, you should have figured out by now that your attitude could get you in trouble with people you don't want be in trouble with," stated Yusuke.

"Really, I had no idea," said Suichi.

"See that's what I mean, you should be more careful. Especially when your buddy isn't around to save you," said Yusuke.

"What Hiei? I didn't need him to save me. I don't need him for anything," said Suichi defiantly. Suddenly, it was dark Suichi saw his dream as if it was in fast forward. He fell to his knees, shivering.

"Ha, see that we haven't even started and he's already on the ground," said Yusuke laughing.

Suichi looked up at Yusuke and Kuwabara, he could feel anger coursing through him, like a raging fire. His eye sight became distorted and then everything was shaded in red.

Suichi attacked Yusuke and Kuwabara. There was a struggle, a rush of voices, then nothing.

Suichi woke up, he looked around and realized he didn't know where he was. He sat up.

"Easy, easy. It's okay. Your at my apartment," said a familiar voice.

Suichi noticed that everything was blurry, he had to blink a few times before he could see. He looked around, he saw Hiei sitting on the floor next to the bed he was in.

"You don't have to worry about your mother, I told her where you were," Hiei was saying.

"Uh, thank you," said Suichi, then he asked, "What happened?"

"Well, you almost put Yusuke and Kuwabara in the hospital," said Hiei thoughtfully.

"I did what?" said Suichi.

"You don't remember the fight?" asked Hiei.

"Uh, no. It's just a blur, a big red blur," said Suichi.

"Red?" inquired Hiei.

"Yeah, I got angry, then red, then nothing. It's weird," explained Suichi, "How did you find me?"

"Yusuke, stupidly, decided to fight you right next to my apartment," answered Hiei.

"Oh," mumbled Suichi.

"Hay, don't worry about it, it's no big deal," said Hiei.

Suichi stared at him, how could Hiei be so calm? He had almost sent two kids to the hospital. Suichi remembered his dream again.

_Hiei knew that I had killed those people._

_I stared at Hiei and he stared back at me. It was, as if I could read his thoughts, I knew that he wouldn't tell anyone. I knew I could trust him._

"Hiei," said Suichi quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. I mean it."

"No problem."


	3. Chapter 3

_I walked through a dark forest, I knew someone was following me, but I didn't care. I entered a clearing and looked around._

"_Come out, you can't hide from me," my voice echoed through the forest._

"_I don't plan to hide from you, Hiei," replied a voice._

_I turned, and stared at the demon that spoke. Demon…long white hair…golden eyes…constant smirk, I refer to him as a demon only because that's what he is, not that he looks like one._

"_You do know that you and Koenma can't suppress me forever, I will break free," his voice shredded my thoughts, "I will fight again, no matter what Suichi wants. No matter what you want."_

_Definitely, sounds like one._

"_Who said that I was going stop you?" I asked._

"_No one needed to tell me, I know how you feel about the poor boy. I wonder what he'd say if he found out what you are," the demon smirked._

"_Is that a threat?" I asked calmly._

_The demon walked closer to me._

"_Why would I want to threaten you," he asked his amber like eyes starring into mine. I could see myself in his eyes, sealed in an amber prison. I felt myself drawn near him; it was an unnerving thought._

_He moved even closer to me, my mind yelled at me, 'move, get away.' But my legs refused to obey. His eyes held me there, in my amber prison, never to be freed. I couldn't even look away._

_As he came closer I could see malevolence flash in his eyes, I knew he was going to dispose of me, but still I couldn't move. It felt like I was a bug caught in the spider's web, watching the spider close in. There was nothing I could do, I couldn't move, I couldn't speak._

_Suddenly, I was knocked to the ground, dazed. I looked up. Someone stood in front of me. Someone was protecting me._

"_Suichi," I gasped in surprise._

_Suichi didn't respond, he didn't turn, he just stood there glaring at the amber-eyed demon. The demon smirked._

"_Is this what you have lowered yourself to, Hiei, letting a human protect you. You've only been in the human realm one year and you're already as weak as them," he laughed._

_I didn't dare responded, not with Suichi standing right there._

"_You're a fool, Hiei. You've always been one, and now you've developed human emotions. Now your weak, pathetic, the only thing worse then a human is a demon with feelings for one," the demon continued._

_Then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, I looked at it, but it was gone. I felt blood spay all over me…_

**Chapter 3 **

Hiei woke up drenched in cold sweat. He sat up quickly, looking around his apartment. His dream came back to him in flashes; he put his head to his knees and gripped his hair. That dream was so vivid, he could feel the blood cover him. Hiei looked at his hands, half expecting them to be covered in blood. They weren't, his vision blurred, Hiei had to blink a few times before he could see again.

He looked over at his alarm clock, resting on the table next to his bed. Six.

"Ugh, what day is it," mumbled Hiei to himself, then he remembered. "Shit!"

Today was Friday and school would start in about an hour. Hiei practically jumped out of bed. He threw on his school uniform, and ran out the door. He lived a half an hour away from the school. He would make it to class but he was supposed to meat Suichi in the library.

'_That's the last time I go to one of Sean's parties' _thought Hiei as he ran to school.

Hiei arrived at school just in time for class. He took his usual seat in the back.

Suichi glanced back at Hiei, wondering why he had almost been late for class and why he hadn't showed up this morning. Suddenly, a paper football fell on his desk. Suichi looked up at the teacher, who wasn't paying any attention to his class. Suichi unfolded the piece of paper it was a note.

_Sorry, about this morning. I overslept._

_-Hiei_

Suichi starred at the note for a second then shoved it into his pocket. Suichi turned his attention back to the teacher.

'He overslept,' thought Suichi incredulously.

The end of the school came quickly, and Suichi sought out Hiei. Hiei was outside of the school gate.

"You overslept?" asked Suichi, walking up.

"Yeah, sorry," said Hiei looking away.

Suichi started to walk away, Hiei followed him.

"So did you get a book?" asked Suichi glancing at Hiei.

"Yeah, it's at my apartment. I spaced it out this morning," said Hiei.

"Hay, Hiei!" called a voice.

Hiei winced; Suichi looked at the person that had called to Hiei. It was a boy with short light brown hair, blue/green eyes; he was wearing baggy jeans and a black T-shirt.

"Who is he?" asked Suichi in low tones, as the boy ran over to them. Hiei didn't get a chance to answer.

"So, Hiei. What did you think of my party last night?" asked the boy.

"It was cool," shrugged Hiei.

"You went to a party last night?" asked Suichi.

"Oh, and who is this?" asked the brunet, gesturing to Suichi.

"He's no concern of yours, Sean," replied Hiei.

"Oh, so you've already claimed him then," said Sean, eyeing Suichi curiously.

'Claimed?' thought Suichi, he had to think about it before he got it.

"Sean, you're an idiot," said Hiei calmly.

Sean didn't responded; he just kept starring at Suichi. Hiei shoved him.

"Turn your brain off before something bad happens," said Hiei.

Sean smiled and got up. He dusted himself off, then extended his hand to Suichi.

"Hi, I'm Sean."

Suichi took Sean's hand, "Suichi."

Sean turned from Suichi to Hiei.

"So are you coming to my party tonight?" asked Sean.

"I can't," answered Hiei.

"Don't worry, you can bring your boyfriend," reassured Sean.

"He's not my boyfriend," replied Hiei.

"Really, what do you say, Suichi, would you like to come?" asked Sean.

Suichi looked from Sean to Hiei, then back to Sean.

"What time?" asked Suichi.

"Nine," said Sean, hoping the Suichi would come.

"I'll see you there," said Suichi.

Hiei muttered something under his breath.

"So, Hiei, you coming?" asked Sean.

"Yes, someone has to protect Suichi from you," said Hiei.

"Good, I'll see you both there. Hiei you still know were I live, later," said Sean as he walked away.

Hiei watched Sean go. Then he rounded on Suichi.

"Why the heck did you do that?" asked Hiei.

"Why, what are you afraid of?" replied Suichi walking away.

"What about your mom?" Hiei followed Suichi.

"What do you care," said Suichi.

Hiei grabbed Suichi's arm Suichi stopped.

"What's up with you? Your not acting like yourself," said Hiei.

Suichi pulled away, and faced Hiei.

"You just met me, How the hell do you know how I act?" asked Suichi angrily.

"I…uh…" stammered Hiei.

"What are you some sort of psycho pervert, were you stocking me. Or is this some sort of bet? 'I bet you can't get quiet, innocent Suichi to go to a party.' Is that what this is?" ranted Suichi.

"Woah, calm down. You're over reacting. I wasn't stocking you and I'm not a psycho pervert. Nor am I doing this for a bet. I only have a few friends and you've only met one of them," explained Hiei.

"Then why do you know me so well?" asked Suichi.

"I don't, I just made that comment off of what I do know," said Hiei.

Suichi looked away embarrassed.

"I did hire a privet detective, though," said Hiei.

Suichi pretended to glare at Hiei, then punched him on the shoulder and ran. Hiei ran after him.

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Hiei and Suichi went to Sean's party later that night. Once they entered the Sean's apartment, Hiei was dragged away by some girl he knew and Suichi was left on his own. But Suichi wasn't alone for long; Sean eventually dragged him off somewhere. Hiei had kept an eye on Suichi and saw Sean drag him away; Hiei wasn't to worried though.

Sean brought Suichi over to a couple guys. One had black hair, the other a bleach blond. Sean introduced Suichi to them. The blonde's name was Jase (short for Jason) and the other was Aaron. (Suichi later found out that Sean, Jase, and Aaron were from the US.)

"So, where's Hiei?" asked Sean, "Didn't he come with you?"

"Yeah, but he was pulled away by some girl," responded Suichi.

"Hana," recited Jase and Aaron together.

"Who?" asked Suichi.

"Hana," explained Sean, "She's madly in love with Hiei."

"Really," replied Suichi semi-interested.

Jase and Aaron looked at each other.

"I could get rid of her if she's making you jealous," said Sean slyly.

"Like Hiei told you, we're not dating, so stop saying we are," said Suichi.

"Yeah, that's what you say now," commented Jase.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Suichi starring at him.

"Oh, nothing," responded Jase.

Meanwhile, Hana was dancing with Hiei.

"So, who was that guy you came with?" asked Hana.

"He goes to my school, his name's Suichi," answered Hiei.

"You'd better be careful, he's Sean's type you know," replied Hana.

"I'm not worried," said Hiei.

"Hay, Hiei," said Suichi walking up, with Sean, Jase, and Aaron behind him.

"What's up?" said Hiei, looking at all of them.

"Hana, can you come with me for a moment," said Jase suddenly.

"O…okay," stammered Hana as Jase led her away.

"Sean what did you do?" asked Hiei as he watched Jase lead Hana away.

Sean just shrugged and looked at Aaron.

"Aaron?"

"Hay, it wasn't my idea man," said Aaron.

"What wasn't?" asked Hiei.

Sean elbowed Aaron, and ordered him to shut-up.

"Oh, now I know you're up to something. What's going on?" said Hiei.

"Well," started Suichi, his green eyes took a familiar golden tint for a second. Then they were back to normal.

"I don't even want to know where this is going," said Hiei, turning.

Suichi grabbed him wrist and pulled him back. Then Suichi pulled Hiei into a loving embrace.

"Your not getting away that easily," whispered Suichi, kissing Hiei's neck.

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Hiei and Suichi walked back to Hiei's apartment in silence. Hiei was obviously angry with something.

"Oh, come on Hiei. It was just a dare," pleaded Suichi, "It wasn't that bad."

Memories of what happened slid in Hiei's mind. Suichi's body pressed up against him, Suichi's lips against his. Hiei shuddered, from either being disgusted or aroused, he couldn't tell.

"It kind of fun you know, to see your face. But I didn't want to make you angry with me," said Suichi.

"I'm sure you didn't," said Hiei slowly.

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" asked Suichi.

"Stop whining," said Hiei walking faster.

Suichi caught up and the walked the rest of the way to Hiei's apartment in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Yusuke walked into Koenma's office, Koenma looked up at him.

"What is it, Yusuke?" said Koenma returning to his work.

"Why is Hiei hanging around Suichi Midamino?" asked Yusuke, putting his hands on Koenma's desk.

"That, Yusuke, is none of your business," replied Koenma, stacking papers.

Yusuke was silent for a moment, then turned from Koenma.

"Why is Hiei back in the city? I thought he didn't want to have anything to do with the spirit world anymore," stated Yusuke lightly.

"He doesn't, but we've made an arrangement," said Koenma slowly looking at Yusuke.

Yusuke turned, "So, does this arrangement have something to do with Suichi Midamino?"

"You're not getting anything out of me." Koenma returned to the papers on his desk.

Yusuke started to walk away, "I'll just talk to Botan."

"She doesn't know anything about it, Yusuke. Your just wasting your time," warned Koenma as Yusuke left.

Yusuke walked down the street, thinking about what Koenma had said. Koenma wasn't lying, Botan really had no clue why Hiei was even in the city. The only other person that would know what was going on was Hiei.

Yusuke looked up at the apartment building that he was standing in front of, Hiei's apartment building. Yusuke was going to get to the bottom of this.

**Chapter 4 **

Hiei opened the door to his apartment. He was startled to see Yusuke standing there, but regained his composure.

"What are you doing here, Yusuke?" asked Hiei.

"What? I can't visit an old demon friend," replied Yusuke.

"Since when have we been friends?" asked Hiei.

Yusuke didn't respond. Hiei stepped back to let Yusuke in. Yusuke walked in.

"Nice apartment," commented Yusuke, "How do you afford it?"

"It's called a job, Yusuke, I don't know if you've heard of it before," replied Hiei.

"You have a job? Hiei, the demon, works with humans?" said Yusuke surprised.

"Why are you here Yusuke?" asked Hiei annoyed.

"I just saw Koenma," said Yusuke.

"What did he give you another assignment? Have you come here for help, because you won't get it," said Hiei, sounding more like his normal self.

"No, I asked him why you were in the city." Yusuke looked at Hiei, "He wouldn't tell me."

"Why do you need to know?" asked Hiei.

"I don't. I just wanted to know if there was something going on that I should know about," explained Yusuke.

"You're the detective you figure it out," said Hiei.

"That's it," said Yusuke.

"What's it?" asked Hiei.

"Do you remember my first assignment, that was when you, Goki, and another guy broke into the great vault and stole the orb thing, the shadow sword, and that mirror," said Yusuke.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you remembered that much," replied Hiei.

"Shut-up. There is something that I don't really remember," started Yusuke slowly.

"And what is that?" asked Hiei.

"The guy who had the mirror. I remember that I didn't have to fight him, but I don't remember how I got the mirror back. Then that other case were we defeated the Saint Beasts, it was you, Kuwabara, me, and that same guy. Why is it I can remember everything else but him?" Yusuke looked at Hiei, Hiei looked away. "You know don't you?"

"What makes you think that I know how your mind works?" asked Hiei.

"Fine, maybe you don't. It's the same for the Dark Tournament, too," muttered Yusuke.

"Yusuke, do you remember the last big case, before the slow down in the demonic activity?" asked Hiei.

"Uh, was that the one were we went after a demon that was slaughtering humans for no real reason?" replied Yusuke.

"Yes, how much do you remember?" asked Hiei.

"Koenma got you to help me with that case, there was someone else with us. But he froze at the last second, it was the first time he had ever froze in battle before, I don't understand."

Yusuke looked as if he had lost something very dear to him. Hiei started to almost feel bad for him, he could understand what it was like not to know someone even though you could remember being around them.

"Yusuke, just forget about it," said Hiei walking away.

Yusuke sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall.

'_Why have I just realized that I have missing memories? Why is it that it just surrounds one person. What is it that Koenma and Hiei aren't telling me? Did something happen that I can't know about?' _thought Yusuke starring at the floor, _'Think, Yusuke, think. _

_Hiei mentioned the last case before the slow down, due to post war stuff in demon world. The war, he was apart of it too. Yomi's adviser. Who the hell was that! Why can't I remember!'_

"Yusuke, stop before you give yourself a headache," said Hiei reentering the room.

Yusuke looked up at Hiei, Hiei looked back at him.

"You've been hanging around Suichi a lot lately," said Yusuke.

"He goes to my school and we're working on a project," said Hiei.

"Why did you stop us from fighting that day?" asked Yusuke.

"I stop you from sending a human to the hospital," replied Hiei.

'_The hospital,' _thought Yusuke.

"_You go to your meeting with Kurama. While I go talk to Koenma," said Botan from her oar, hovering over Yusuke, "Oh and, Yusuke, please be careful."_

"_Yeah, yeah. I'll be walking on egg shells."_

"Kurama!" exclaimed Yusuke suddenly.

"What?" said Hiei nearly having a heart attack.

"Kurama. Wait, why did I forget about him? Hiei, what happened?" asked Yusuke.

"Amazing," said Hiei, "Simply amazing."

Yusuke stood up, "Hiei, what happened?"

"The last case that we were on together. Kurama almost died, Koenma has suppressed his demon side. Kurama is human now," explained Hiei.

"Why did Koenma erase my memory of him?" asked Yusuke still very angry.

"He had to, Kurama doesn't remember any of us. And he can't find out about us until he's ready to fight again. Koenma would have trusted you not to tell Kurama anything about his past, but I told him that nobody could remember. That included you and Botan," said Hiei.

"Botan doesn't know either?" asked Yusuke.

"She might have accidentally let something slip," replied Hiei.

"Does this mean that I've…oh, man…uh, Suichi is very different then Kurama in personality," said Yusuke. _'Maybe, I should apologize.'_

"Yusuke, if you're thinking what I think your thinking, don't. That's why I had Koenma erase your memory, you can't treat Suichi any different then you have been just because you've found out," said Hiei.

There was a knock on the door, both Hiei and Yusuke froze. There was another knock. Hiei went to go answer the door, hoping it was Sean or Hana. He opened the door, it was Suichi. Hiei didn't know what to say, they had just been talking about him and now.

"Hiei, who is it?" asked Yusuke walking into the room, he saw Suichi, "Oh, it's you."

"Did I hit you to hard so you forgot my name or is this normal for you, Yusuke," said Suichi.

"Are you just looking for a fight?" asked Yusuke.

"Oh, I get it. Your afraid that I'll beat you again like last time," replied Suichi.

"At least I know when I'm beaten," said Yusuke.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Suichi.

"I can't talk to you," said Yusuke, "Hiei, will you please talk to him for me."

"What am I supposed to say?" asked Hiei.

"I don't know!" said Yusuke, turning.

"You'd better come in, this will probably take a while," said Hiei, moving so Suichi could walk in.

Suichi entered and walked past Yusuke. Yusuke watched him, wondering what to do next. He wanted to apologize for being a total jerk, but Hiei said he had to act the same. But there was no possible way he could do that now that he knew, there had to be some way to make peace without blowing it, totally.

Suichi watched Yusuke wondering what was going through that empty head. Hiei stood apart from the group, he was not going to be dragged into this.

Yusuke started to do some quick thinking, "I was just thinking, there's always a push for our territory. And since you're strong enough to beat Kuwabara and me, I thought you could join our group as my second in command."

"You want me to join your gang?" asked Suichi laughing.

"I'm serious," said Yusuke, putting on his tough guy look.

"Second in command, really. Should I be leading you 'gang?'" asked Suichi, considering.

"Don't push it man, don't push it," said Yusuke.

"I don't know, what would my mother think about this," pondered Suichi.

Yusuke looked at Hiei.

"Don't look at me," said Hiei.

Suddenly the room froze, including Suichi. Koenma appeared in front of them.

"What is it, Koenma?" asked Yusuke.

"Yusuke, Hiei, there's a shape shifting demon in the human realm," said Koenma looking worried.

"Shape shifting?" repeated Yusuke.

"That means it can be anyone," explained Hiei.

"I knew that," said Yusuke.

"Yeah ya' did," replied Hiei.

Yusuke glared at Hiei.

"Knock it off. I need both of you on this, yes you too, Hiei." Koenma took something out from his pocket, "Here, Yusuke, this with help. It's the new Psychic spy glass, you'll be able to see through the demon's disguise."

Suichi tilted his head and sighed.

"I've been figured out already," muttered Suichi, "Well, at least I have my prisoner."

Hiei, Koenma, and Yusuke looked at "Suichi."

"I bet you weren't expecting this. Thanks for the offer, Yusuke, but I don't take orders from humans. Later." The demon disappeared.

"It looks like Suichi doesn't have a choice to fight or not anymore," said Yusuke.

"He's been captured by a demon, great just great," said Hiei.

"Good luck," said Koenma before he disappeared.

Hiei reverted to his demon form and opened his Jagon.

"Can you track it?" asked Yusuke.

"What do you think, let's go," replied Hiei.

Hiei walked out of his apartment, followed by Yusuke.

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Suichi slowly opened his eyes, he felt tired. He looked around, it was dark, but he could see that he was in behind bars. He couldn't figure out how he'd gotten there. Suichi stood up, as he did so he realized that his wrists were chained to the wall. Suichi heard something moving in the darkness.

"Who's there?" Suichi called out looking out into the darkness.

"Just your reflection," said a voice, as Suichi's "reflection" stepped out of the darkness.

Suichi's heart skipped a beat. He took a step back, he was starring at himself. It was almost exactly like his dream. His "reflection" smiled at him, then it turned back into its normal demon form. Glowing red eyes, sharp claws and fangs, light gray skin, and long black hair. A monster straight out of a child's horror story.

"You're afraid, aren't you?" said the demon.

Suichi's heart quickened, but he would never let this thing know that he was the least bit scared.

"Hardly, you would barely scare a three year old girl," retorted Suichi.

"You have a sharp tongue for someone so cute," said the demon.

"And your ugly for a girl," replied Suichi.

The demon laughed, "I suppose that I would be to a human."

The demon changed forms again, this time she had long silky black hair, deep blue eyes, no fangs and no claws. She was wearing a long tight fitting dress, with a slit all the way up to her waist. Real heart stopper.

"Is this form more to your liking?" she asked.

Suichi took a deep breath and looked away, letting it out slowly. The demon took that as a yes.

'_Next time, just shut-up,' _Suichi told himself crossly.

"Your friend's are coming to rescue you, you know," said the demon.

"Friends?" asked Suichi stupidly.

"You don't even know what those two are capable of, do you?" asked the demon.

"Who are you talking about?" replied Suichi.

The demon just laughed, then walked away.

"You will see, you will see."

'_See what?' _thought Suichi.

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Hiei and Yusuke arrived outside a run down mansion, just outside of the city limits. Yusuke looked up at the mansion, it was all cover I vines and most of the windows were broken.

"Where's the 'Danger: condemned' sign?" asked Yusuke.

"Joker as always, Yusuke," replied Hiei.

They walked up the drive and pushed open the gate. As they got closer to the mansion the gate slammed shut. The same thing happen with the door after they entered the house.

"No turning back," said Yusuke.

"Hn."

As they walked, further into the threshold torches lit themselves, leading the way. They continued to walk guided by torches, Yusuke looked behind them and saw nothing but darkness. Just as the gate and the door shut to prevent them form going back the torches went out after they past. After a while the torches lead them to a door, Hiei opened it.

On the other side of the door, there was a very small landing followed directly by stairs, if you didn't know that they were there or didn't look before you took a step, you would fall down about seven flights.

They walked down the stairs, still guided by torches. They reached the bottom of the stairs and were plunged into total and complete darkness.

"Where are we now?" asked Yusuke.

"Yusuke?" asked a voice.

"That sounded like Suichi," said Yusuke quietly.

"We have to know for sure, it might be trap," said Hiei.

"Yeah, find some light and I'll tell you if it's a trap or not," said Yusuke.

Hiei opened his Jagon and looked around there were few torches around the room, up on the wall. Hiei lit them with his powers.

"Thanks," said Yusuke.

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Suichi was surprised when the lights came on, he looked around and saw Hiei and Yusuke near the stairs.

"Hiei! Yusuke! Over here," called Suichi.

Hiei and Yusuke looked over at Suichi, then walked over the cage he was in.

"Practicing to be a bird, Suichi?" asked Yusuke.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Yusuke," said Suichi.

"Where's the demon?" asked Hiei as Yusuke broke open the lock.

"I don't know," said Suichi as Yusuke opened the door, then Suichi grew claws, "Oh, wait. Yes I do." Suichi smirked as he scratched Yusuke across his chest.

Yusuke jumped back, as Hiei drew his sword.

"What did you do with Suichi?" asked Hiei.

"What are you talking about, Hiei?" asked Suichi, "I'm right here." Suichi flung out with his claws again, Hiei dodged.

The demon disguised as Suichi, returned to its true form.

"I should have known you were a girl," said Hiei.

"Was it that obvious?" asked the demon.

"Who are you?" asked Yusuke.

"My name is Matsura, I'll take great pleasure in killing you two."

"I'd like to see you try putting one claw on me, again," said Yusuke.

"Be careful what you say, You wouldn't want to blow your big secret in front of Suichi," replied Matsura.

"What?" said Yusuke.

The light seemed to get brighter, Hiei and Yusuke looked around. They both saw him at the same time. Suichi was chained to the wall with his hands over his head. His shirt was open and a single claw mark ran all the way down from his shoulder to his waist. There was another across of his right cheek, blood dripped from both wounds onto the floor. Suichi's eyes were closed.

Hiei gripped his sword tighter and Yusuke started to prepare for his spirit gun. Matsura just starred at them without emotion.


	5. Chapter 5

Suichi was surprised when the lights came on, he looked around and saw Hiei and Yusuke near the stairs.

"Hiei! Yusuke! Over here," called Suichi.

Hiei and Yusuke looked over at Suichi, then walked over the cage he was in.

"Practicing to be a bird, Suichi?" asked Yusuke.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Yusuke," said Suichi.

"Where's the demon?" asked Hiei as Yusuke broke open the lock.

"I don't know," said Suichi as Yusuke opened the door, then Suichi grew claws, "Oh, wait. Yes I do." Suichi smirked as he scratched Yusuke across his chest.

Yusuke jumped back, as Hiei drew his sword.

"What did you do with Suichi?" asked Hiei.

"What are you talking about, Hiei?" asked Suichi, "I'm right here." Suichi flung out with his claws again, Hiei dodged.

The demon disguised as Suichi, returned to its true form.

"I should have known you were a girl," said Hiei.

"Was it that obvious?" asked the demon.

"Who are you?" asked Yusuke.

"My name is Matsura, I'll take great pleasure in killing you two."

"I'd like to see you try putting one claw on me, again," said Yusuke.

"Be careful what you say, You wouldn't want to blow your big secret in front of Suichi," replied Matsura.

"What?" said Yusuke.

The light seemed to get brighter, Hiei and Yusuke looked around. They both saw him at the same time. Suichi was chained to the wall with his hands over his head. His shirt was open and a single claw mark ran all the way down from his shoulder to his waist. There was another across of his right cheek, blood dripped from both wounds onto the floor. Suichi's eyes were closed.

Hiei gripped his sword tighter and Yusuke started to prepare for his spirit gun. Matsura just stared at them without emotion.

**Chapter 5 **

Matsura faded into the shadows, laughing.

"Do you really think that you'll be able to beat me?" her voice echoed though out the whole room.

"What do you want with Suichi?" asked Yusuke starring into the darkness.

Matsura appeared behind Yusuke, wrapping her arms around his waist. She brushed her lips against his neck, her hands running up his chest under his shirt.

"Who said I wanted him?"

Yusuke swallowed, hard, trying to regain focus. Matsura pressed her body closer to his, and ran her hands back down his chest. Yusuke half tried to brake away from her. Matsura laughed and shoved her hand through his stomach so it came out his back. Yusuke gasped, as Matsura pulled his hand out of his body, Yusuke fell to the floor clutching his stomach.

"Men, always thinking with their bodies, never with their minds," said Matsura looking over at Hiei, who was trying to free Suichi. She walked over to him, Hiei held his sword ready to kill her. "I suppose I can't treat you I the same way."

Hiei didn't reply, tightening his hold on his sword.

"You can't fool me, I know how you feel about the poor boy. You act like you want to be alone. You act like you hate everyone in the world, but you don't do you?" said Matsura starring at Hiei, "your just lying to yourself and everyone around you, you don't want to get close to anyone, because you know they'll just end up dead or hating you, like always. I wonder what he'd say if he found out what you are."

"Who are you?" asked Hiei.

"Just a lowly shape shifting demon, out for revenge, said Matsura bowing, the she disappeared along with the house. "We will meet again, Forbidden fire."

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_I am standing in the middle of an arena, the entire crowd is cheering for my death, but it doesn't faze me. Across from me stands my opponent, he is the only person I has to worry about. I run over my plan in my mind, 'I need to avoid him until my transformation takes place, then and only then, can I beat him.'_

_The fight starts and I use my defensive move called 'Fuka Enbu-Jin.' This doesn't concern my opponent, as he walks right into the whirlwind of petals. One of the petals cuts him on the cheek._

"_It's incredible! Each of the petals is as sharp as a razor blade. How utterly charming," says my opponent calmly, "But they are also weak, and lacking in substance, traits they must have inherited from you."_

_Without moving my opponent destroyed all of the petals._

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Suichi woke up, sitting up in bed.

"Suichi, you okay?" asked a voice that sounded surprised and concerned.

Suichi looked over at the person who spoke, he saw Yusuke starring at him.

"Yusuke? Where am I?" asked Suichi looking around.

"Hiei's apartment," replied Yusuke.

Suichi looked back at him, "And why are you here?"

"You know, I did just save your life, you could be a little more trusting," said Yusuke.

"You saved my life, from what?"

Yusuke starred at him, "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" asked Suichi, racking his brain for what he was supposed to remember, he figured that it had to do with why he was here.

"You were attacked, by a girl with a knife," said Yusuke, wishing he could come up with a better story then that, "You've got some dangerous fan girls, Suichi."

Suichi considered what Yusuke said, he wasn't stupid, he knew that what Yusuke had just said a partially a lie.

"I was attacked by a crazed Fan girl with a knife? What am I a rock star now?" said Suichi, "Why don't you try telling me what really happened."

"Honestly, you were captured by a shape shifting demon and used as bait, so she could get to Hiei," said Yusuke.

Suichi didn't reply, what Yusuke had just said made no sense. There was no such things

as demons.

"Now you being attacked by a crazed fan girl sounds more believable, doesn't it?" asked Yusuke, "but that is the truth."

"You expect me to believe that I was captured by a demon?" asked Suichi.

"Hay, you asked for it. I don't expect you to believe anything I tell you," replied Yusuke.

"And why's that?" asked Suichi.

"Because I've fought with you twice, and I've been a total jerk to you since we've met and…and that's really it," said Yusuke.

"Okay, that still doesn't answer my question. There's no such thing as demons, they're just a myth," said Suichi.

"Your to logical, but you'll see that I'm telling the truth," said Yusuke, as the door opened and Hiei entered, followed by a girl with light blue hair.

"Yusuke! Look at what you've done to yourself now," said the girl.

"Hay, Botan," said Yusuke as Botan walked over to him. (A/N: remember Botan doesn't know who Suichi is and Suichi doesn't know her.)

"How you managed to live after that attack is beyond me," said Botan looking at Yusuke's wound.

Suichi starred at Yusuke he hadn't noticed that Yusuke was hurt. Botan looked over at him.

"Yusuke, who's this?" asked Botan.

"That's Suichi," answered Yusuke.

"Oh, is he the one…" she stopped, looking over at Hiei, who was glaring at her.

"I already told him, Hiei," said Yusuke.

"You what?" exclaimed Hiei and Botan.

"He doesn't believe me anyway, right?" Yusuke looked at Suichi.

"What that demons are real? Of course I believe you, said that it was the truth," said Suichi.

"What?" exclaimed Yusuke.


	6. Chapter 6

"What that demons are real? Of course I believe you, you said that it was the truth," said Suichi.

"What?" exclaimed Yusuke.

**Chapter 6 **

Everyone stared at Suichi, waiting for him to respond. Suichi just looked away.

"Was that a joke?" asked Yusuke.

"No, I believe you. You don't seem to be the kind of person to lie like that," replied Suichi.

"I don't get this guy," said Yusuke getting up, forgetting about his wound.

Botan shoved him onto the bed, glaring at him.

"Don't forget you wounded, stay down until I can heal you," said Botan.

"Come on, Botan. I've been in worse shape then this," protested Yusuke.

Botan and Yusuke started to fight, while Suichi watched. After a few minutes Hiei told

them to shut-up. Suichi laid back on, what he supposed was, Hiei's bed. Botan dragged Yusuke into another room, leaving Hiei and Suichi alone. There was a long silence, Suichi was on the verge of falling back asleep when Hiei asked him a question.

"Do you really believe what Yusuke said?"

Suichi sat up again, "I don't really know what to believe. At first he told me that I was attacked by some crazy fan-girl with a knife. Now he says it was a demon, that used me for bait to get you. They both sound farfetched to me, but Yusuke said that the later what the truth, and despite how much of a jerk Yusuke comes off to be I honestly think that he isn't the type of person to lie about something and be that serious." Suichi paused, "Then again… the possibility of demons being real and after one of my friends, is very nerve racking. Especially after the dreams I've been having lately."

"What dreams?" asked Hiei, looking concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just being paranoid," answered Suichi.

"That's probably not it. You said that the threat of a demon being after your friend paired with your resent dreams, is unnerving. What type of dreams have you been having lately?"

"Are you saying that my dreams could help you catch this demon, because I can tell you right now that they won't," said Suichi regarding Hiei intently.

"Just tell me, you don't know if they can be helpful or not," replied Hiei.

"Why do you need to know?" asked Suichi.

"I just do," answered Hiei getting angry.

"Well, I'm not telling you," replied Suichi turning away.

"Why not?" asked Hiei trying to control his temper.

"Because you won't tell me why you need to hear them, plus dreams are very personal," answered Suichi.

"Just tell me," said Hiei.

"Not until you tell me why you need to hear them," replied Suichi.

"I can't."

"Then I'm not telling."

"Your being unreasonable."

"No, I'm not. Your being nosy," said Suichi staring at the wall.

"Just tell me!" exclaimed Hiei getting angry.

"NO!" yelled Suichi.

"Dammnit, Kurama!" Hiei yelled back.

Suichi turned, "What did you just call me?"

Hiei looked away and didn't answer.

"Did you just call me Kurama?" asked Suichi.

'_SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT,' _thought Hiei, still refusing to respond to Suichi.

"You did, didn't you?"

"God, I don't know why you're getting so upset about it," replied Hiei without thinking.

"So you emit it?" said Suichi.

Hiei mentally slapped himself for screwing up like this. Suichi stared at him waiting for an answer. Hiei avoided Suichi gaze looking for a way out of the huge mess he had just gotten himself in.

"Hiei, who is Kurama, anyway?" asked Suichi.

"Uh, just someone I used to know," answered Hiei quietly, "You just remind me of him."

"Hiei…" Suddenly Suichi blacked out and fell back on the bed. Suichi's eyes were still open but he couldn't see anything. Hiei stared at him concerned, then Suichi stopped breathing.

"SUICHI!"

Yusuke and Botan ran into the room, and saw Suichi. Botan rushed to Suichi's side and put her hands over his chest trying to heal him. Yusuke stood by Hiei just staring at Suichi.

After a few moments Suichi started breathing again, but he was still unconscious, with his eyes open. Hiei felt Suichi, or rather Kurama's mind touch his for a fleeting second. Hiei opened his third eye and tried to reconnect with Kurama.

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_I pushed Hiei out of the way, and stared at the demon who stood in front. I heard Hiei say my name, but I didn't take my eyes off the demon. The demon smirked._

"_Is this what you have lowered yourself to, Hiei, letting a human protect you. You've only been in the human realm one year and you're already as weak as them," he laughed._

_Hiei didn't respond, I didn't know what he was thinking, all I knew was that I needed to keep this demon away from him._

"_You're a fool, Hiei. You've always been one, and now you've developed human emotions. Now your weak, pathetic, the only thing worse then a human is a demon with feelings for one," the demon continued._

_Again Hiei didn't respond, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't dare take my eyes off the demon. I soon found out that I had made a mistake, as I felt the cold steal of a sword go through my stomach. My breath caught in my chest, I fell back into darkness._

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Hiei was thrown out of Kurama/Suichi's mind. He looked over at Suichi, who was now sleeping peacefully. He noticed that Yusuke and Botan work staring at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Hiei getting annoyed.

"You passed out," said Botan timidly.

"What?" said Hiei, just now noticing that he was on the floor. Hiei got up and walked over to Suichi. Yusuke followed him.

"Hiei, what happened?" asked Yusuke.

"Yoko isn't happy about his captivity and Suichi can't handle all of Yoko's pent up demonic power," explained Hiei.

"Are you serious?" asked Yusuke. Hiei nodded.

Botan walked over to them, "What are you talking about? Yoko has been dead these past three hundred and seventeen years."

"Yoko is still alive," said Hiei.

Botan looked from Hiei to Yusuke, then to Suichi, and then back to Hiei. Yusuke watched her figure out what was going on, Hiei just ignored her. Botan gasped.

"Are you saying the Suichi is Yoko?"

"Bingo," said Yusuke.

"But how? Koenma never said anything to me about Yoko escaping and taking over a human body," said Botan.

"He never told you why I was pretending to be a human for the past year, either did he?" retorted Hiei.

Botan gasped again, "Is that why…You were watching over…but why?"

"Because," snapped Hiei loosing what little patience he had left.

"That's not a good reason. Hiei, you need to tell me," replied Botan.

Hiei snorted, "I don't need to tell you anything."

"Yusuke!" pleaded Botan.

"What do you want me to do!" asked Yusuke.

"Talk to him, make him tell me why he's been watching over the boy that is essentially Yoko Kurama," answered Botan.

Yusuke laughed, "You think I have control over Hiei? Go ask Koenma."

"Fine! I will," said Botan summoning her oar and flying out the window.

"So why have you been watching over him, anyway?" asked Yusuke.

"What makes you think that I'm going to tell you?" responded Hiei.

"Nothing, just thought I'd ask," Yusuke looked at his watch, "It's getting late."

"So?"

"No reason, though Suichi's mom is probably worried about him," said Yusuke.

"Call her then," replied Hiei.

"What am I going to say? I'm sorry but your son has been attacked by a demon and almost died so he can't come home tonight?" asked Yusuke.

Hiei hit Yusuke, "Use your brain for once, will you!"

"Fine."

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_I looked back and I saw Suichi falling towards me, I moved to ketch him. He fell lightly into my arms, I knew that he was dying._

"_Beauty everlasting, don't you agree" said the demon._

_I glared at the demon standing before me. I realized that I wasn't looking at who I was expecting. The shape shifter, Matsura, stood before me._

"_What is it Hiei? My sister wasn't lying when she said she was a shape shifter," said a cold voice._

_I turned to see someone I had no wish to see ever again._

"_Poor Hiei, you really thought you could save him from me, didn't you? You thought that if you turned him human I wouldn't be able to find him. You'll soon find out that your were dead wrong," the crow's voice was light, but still held danger._

"_This is a dream. You have no place in reality," said Hiei still holding onto Suichi's limp body._

"_You'll soon find out that you're wrong there as well…"_

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Hiei woke up to find that he was drenched in clod sweat. The sun's rays peeked through the closed curtains. Suichi and Yusuke were still sleeping, Hiei got up and walked to the bathroom.

Hiei leaned on the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. Flashes of the dream went through his mind, leaving him with the memories of Kurama's fight with Karasu. Hiei shook his head, clearing away all thought's of Karasu some how surviving Kurama's attack.

"Get a grip, " Hiei told himself sternly, "Your letting dreams effect you."

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_I'm surround in a fog, I cannot see. I hear movement around me, I turn. I see a form of a man in the mist; he is standing there doing nothing. I hear a cry of pain from far away someone is dying._

_The fog is lifted, I see the man dead, lying in his own blood. I hear sirens, I do not move. I look for the man's killer, I see no one. I look back at the man, but he is gone. My vision is blurred._

_I look around; I am standing in a dark room. A woman and her young daughter are lying on the ground. They are both covered in blood, both dead. I look at them feeling nothing. Again, I look for the killer, still unaware, still not knowing. I look back at the woman and the young girl, then at my hands. My right hand is holding a knife, covered in blood. I take a step back, dropping the knife._

_I look back up, I see myself covered in blood that is not my own. I close my eyes, not wanting to believe, but knowing that I killed that man, that I killed the women and her daughter._

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Suichi woke up, he sat up looking around and wondering where he was. Then he remembered that he was in Hiei apartment. Flashes of his dream came back to him, he knew that he'd had that dream before. He couldn't figure out what it meant.

Hiei walked into the room, Suichi watched him walk over to Yusuke. Hiei woke Yusuke up, by pulling the pillow out from underneath his head. Yusuke got really mad and tackled Hiei, Yusuke pinned Hiei to the floor. Suichi, who thought it was really funny, started to laugh.

Yusuke and Hiei, both, looked over at Suichi. Neither of them knew he was awake or that he was watching them.

"Get off me!" yelled Hiei.

Yusuke got off of him really fast, "Sorry, but you started it."

"Shut-up…" replied Hiei looking away.

Suichi stopped laughing, Yusuke and Hiei, both, looked very embarrassed.

"You two don't need to be so embarrassed, it's okay if you like each other," said Suichi.

"WHAT! I DON'T LIKE HIM!" yelled Hiei and Yusuke.

"You don't need to hide it," replied Suichi.

"Suichi," said Yusuke warningly.

"What? Yusuke, you really should stop living in denial, you too, Hiei," retorted Suichi.

"If you weren't hurt…" started Yusuke.

"I'd pound you, " finished Hiei.

"How cute, you finished his sentence Hiei!" exclaimed Suichi.

"Are you trying to tick us off?" asked Hiei.

"You wouldn't hurt an injured person would you?" asked Suichi astonished.

Yusuke and Hiei glared at Suichi, who started laughing again. Yusuke and Hiei exchanged glances, then looked at Suichi, with one of those 'if looks could kill' looks.

"Uh oh, death glares. I'm in trouble," said Suichi semi-sarcastically.

"Your damn right," said Yusuke throwing a pillow a Suichi.

"YUSUKE!" exclaimed Botan walking in, "I can't believe you'd attack an injured person like that!"

"All I did was throw a pillow at him, and he started it," said Yusuke glaring at Suichi.

"He's right I did start it, he's just to chicken to actually attack me," said Suichi.

"Do you have a death wish?" asked Yusuke angrily.

"Yusuke!" exclaimed Botan.

"What? He started it!" whined Yusuke.

"Yusuke, you sound like a little kid," said Hiei.

"Oh, shut-up, Hiei. You were going to throw something at him too," replied Yusuke.

"I was not."

"You were too."

"I was not!"

"You were too!'

"I WAS NOT."

"YOU WERE TOO."

"I WAS NOT!"

"YOU WERE TOO!"

"Now, who sounds like a child," said Suichi.

"You stay out of this Suichi!" yelled Yusuke and Hiei.

"Go ahead and make complete idiots out of yourselves, then. It's really impressive," said Suichi.

Hiei and Yusuke tried to attack Suichi, but he escaped and they ended up chasing him around the apartment. Botan watched them act like little kids for about ten minutes before she put a stop to their idiocy. Suichi and Yusuke collapsed on the bed, laughing their heads off, while Hiei looked really embarrassed. Botan just rolled her eyes and walked into the Kitchen, Yusuke and Suichi stopped laughing.

"Hay! Botan! What are you doing in the Kitchen?" asked Yusuke.

"I thought I'd make breakfast for you kids," replied Botan.

"Hay, thanks!" called Yusuke.

After Breakfast, that despite Hiei's doubts about Botan being able to cook was really good, Sean called to tell Hiei that his brother was letting him barrow his club for tonight and that he was going to throw a huge party. When Hiei was going to say no, Sean said that he was going to invite Suichi as well.

"Fine, I'll go," said Hiei, "but only if I can bring two people with."

"Whatever," replied Sean, "the more the crazier!"

"You're an idiot," retorted Hiei.

Sean told Hiei that the party started at eight and where the club was located. Hiei hung up the phone, and walked back into the Kitchen, where Botan, Yusuke, and Suichi were

sitting. Hiei leaned against the wall.

"So who was that?" asked Yusuke.

"Sean, the master of parties," said Hiei.

"Oh, so he's having another party?" asked Suichi.

Hiei snorted, "His brother let him barrow the club, and we're all invited to this party.

"You serious?" asked Yusuke.

"Yeah."

"YES!"

"Why are you so excited?" asked Botan and Suichi.

"This guy throws killer parties, I've been trying to get into one forever," replied Yusuke.

"Really," said Hiei, "Yusuke, next time you want to go one of Sean's parties. Just tell me, you can go so I won't have to."


	7. Chapter 7

The house was haunted, there was no other explanation for the sounds that echoed from the house at night. No one from the village would dare approach it, and yet tonight there was a light on in the house. I t shone through the moonless night as if it were pretending to be the moon itself.

A shadow passed over the light every few seconds as if someone was pacing in the room, this concerned the villagers because no one had ever entered the house, not since its previous owner had died. A strong yokai used to live there and it was said that he had placed many death traps in his house to keep out intruders while he was gone. The villagers had hope that he would never return but it seemed as if he had.

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Matsura watched her brother pace back and forth across the room, muttering to himself. He had been doing this ever since she had come back with the news the Hiei was already planning a counter assault to their well laid plans. She had known that the fire brat was smart, but her brother had underestimated him, again.

"What are we to do?" asked Matsura.

"We wait, Hiei is still denying the fact that I am still alive. We will wait a few days for him to get his confidence in his plan back, then we will strike and Kurama will be mine," answered Karasu.

Matsura stood and walked closer to her brother.

"You risk so much with this brother," said Matsura.

"I risk nothing, they've tried to kill me once and yet here I stand," replied Karasu.

"My power has decreased, I cannot repeat that spell," stated Matsura.

"Don't worry, I won't be killed this time. There is no way they could pull that off again," said Karasu smirking.

Matsura wasn't sure, she did not believe that her brother was stronger then Hiei or Yusuke. Even if Kurama couldn't kill him, Yusuke or Hiei would.

"Why do you lavish such affection on someone who does not want it nor deserve it?" asked Matsura.

"What you speak of is sin, dear sister," answered Karasu softly.

"You did seem to care with Ani," replied Matsura.

Karasu turned as if to strike his sister, but thought better of it and only glared at her.

"You'd have better be careful with what you say, father isn't here to save you any more," said Karasu leaving the room.

**Chapter 7**

Botan and Yusuke stood just outside of Hiei's apartment complex, waiting for Suichi and Hiei to come out. Botan was muttering about the party that she had no interest in going to.

"Will you stop complaining?" asked Yusuke irritably.

"I just don't see why I have to go!" exclaimed Botan with asperity.

"And you say that I don't take my job seriously," replied Yusuke rolling his eyes, " we both know that someone is either after Suichi or Hiei, so we both need to be there to make sure that neither of them get captured or hurt. You saw how they both passed out today."

"yes, I saw and I understand. But why do I have to be dressed like this!" asked Botan gesturing to herself.

Botan was wearing a rather short black leather skirt and a dark blue halter top, with knee high black leather boots and a leather jacket. He hair was up in a high pony tail and she was wearing make-up.

Yusuke shrugged, "Hay all I told Keiko and Shizuru is that we where going undercover at a party at Chartres and they took over from there. At least we both look like we belong there."

"That's easy for you to say, your not wearing a mini-skirt," said Botan.

"Good thing too, because that would be weird," replied Yusuke.

Botan looked like she was going to strike him, but just then Hiei and Suichi approached them. Suichi had gone home earlier to get clothes and tell his mom that he would be spending the night at Hiei's to work on a project for school.

As they got closer, Yusuke and Botan noticed that they were wearing all black as well.

"Well, shall we go?" asked Suichi.

"Yeah," replied Yusuke.

The club was only a few miles away from Hiei's downtown apartment, so they walked there.

Chartres was a gothic club that was located in the basement of an old building that looked abandoned. It had a huge dace floor with a DJ playing nothing but heavy metal music and underground music. Amazingly Chartres had no bar, but that didn't stop the patrons from drinking.

Sean met them at the door and led them around the club, just to gloat, then he led them to the back where Aaron, Jason, and Hana were sitting. Hiei introduced Yusuke and Botan to the group before he was dragged onto the dance floor by Hana. Sean disappeared as well.

"I swear, that girl cannot take a hint," stated Jason shaking his head.

"Who can't?" asked Yusuke sounding confused.

Aaron gave him a look, "Hiei's only told Hana a million times that he isn't interested in her more then being just friends."

"I see…" Yusuke looked over at the dance floor trying find Hiei, but it was rather difficult with the amount of people on the dance floor.

The night went on without anything weird happening. The DJ continued his set then left, making way for an underground band called, "Sadistic Irony." Hana ended talking Yusuke into dancing with her, while Jason took Botan out on the dance floor. Aaron disappeared half-way through the night leaving Hiei and Suichi alone, for a while.

"So?" asked Hiei looking at Suichi.

Suichi looked back at him looking slightly confused, "So what?"

"What do you think?"

"Your friends are the weirdest bunch of people I've ever met," stated Suichi knowing that's what Hiei was asking about.

"Introduce me to your friend's then," said Hiei laughing slightly.

At this Suichi's face fell and he looked down, Hiei suddenly realized that Suichi didn't have any real friends. Well, other then himself and maybe Yusuke and Botan, now. Hiei decided to change the subject, only to realize he didn't know what else to talk about. He was saved when Botan and Yusuke came back.

"Ready to go?" asked Hiei noticing how tired they looked.

"Yeah, it's nearly midnight," said Botan, "I need to get back."

"That's fine," said Suichi standing up, "I'm done with this place."

Hiei stood up as well and they left the club together. They walked down the street in silence, Yusuke and Botan to tired to talk, and Hiei and Suichi having nothing to say. They didn't even notice the person following them.

Halfway back to Hiei's apartment they were attacked, the man grabbed Botan and held a gun to her head, causing her to scream. They guys turned around when they heard Botan scream. They saw the man with a gun, holding Botan hostage for something.

"Give me your money and I'll let the girl go," the man said, answering the unasked question. His face was hidden by a ski mask, he was a mugger.

Hiei sighed and disappeared, he'd had enough of these types of people. He took the man's gun from him and got Botan away from him and next to Yusuke. After that he expected the man to run off, having no other weapon, what he didn't expect was for the man to smirk and completely disappear. It became unmistakably clear that the man was not human when the gun turned into a black rose.

"What the hell?" said Yusuke looking at the black rose in Hiei's hand.

"That's what I want to know," said Suichi, he did believe Yusuke when he had said that there were demons in the world, he just didn't realize that he was now stuck dealing with them.

Hiei stared at the rose in his hand, "I couldn't tell you what that was."

"So what now?" asked Botan sounding concerned.

Hiei handed her the rose, "Take that to Koenma, see what he knows."

"Koenma? Your not talking about ruler of the spirit world, Koenma, are you?" asked Suichi looking from Botan to Hiei.

"Uh, yeah," conceded Yusuke, giving a nervous laugh.

"Wait…hold on, first you tell me that there are demons in this world who are after me and my friends, and know your dragging Koenma, ruler of spirit world, into this little soiree. Who are you people?" Suichi sounded like he was on the verge of breaking out into a hysterical rant.

"It's a long story," said Hiei.

"I have time," replied Suichi still sounding rather hysterical.

"Dammnit…I did not want this to happen," muttered Hiei looking away.

"What didn't you want to happen?" asked Suichi.

Hiei looked at Suichi, "I can't explain it now, but I promise I will later."

Suichi gave him a look then walked away, not towards Hiei's apartment, but towards his own house. He was going home, he'd had enough. Yusuke and Botan watched Suichi leave, Hiei didn't stay to watch he just continued to his apartment. Botan and Yusuke exchanged glances, before Yusuke started to follow Suichi and Botan left for spirit world. Things where about to get more complicated.

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The window exploded, glass fell from it like rain. The light went out. Karasu stood in the darkness trying to calm himself. He collected his thoughts, things where not falling into place as they should have.

"How the hell did he get out?" Karasu asked himself pacing again, "I was sure I had taken care of him a long time ago."

The light flickered on, Karasu looked over at the previously unlit candle and saw a black rose…_His_ calling card. The rose exploded, leaving no trace of it ever being there.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Botan reached spirit world a few minutes later. She walked into Koenma's office still holding the black rose, she didn't know what it meant and she hoped Koenma did. When she reached his desk, Koenma looked up, he immediately noticed the rose.

"Where did you get that?" he asked sounding confused and concerned.

Baton placed the rose on Koenma's desk and explained everything. Starting from what Hiei and Yusuke had told her about their fight with the shape shifting demon, Matsura, all the way up to Suichi finding out about demons and spirit world. Koenma listened intently with a stern look on his face. When Botan was finished explaining he sighed.

"So he knows before he was ready to find out, I was afraid of this," said Koenma.

"Yes, I know. You went through so much trouble to make sure he found out on his own when he was ready to fight again, Hiei told us."

Koenma looked up at Botan, "As for the black rose. It's a calling card for a particularly unique demon." Koenma paused thinking a bit before continuing, "His name is Azriel, spirit world has never had to deal with him, but I've heard that he can be quite eccentric."

"Eccentric," repeated Botan sounding extremely confused.

"It's had to explain, he's not an ordinary demon. It's said that he looks for a person or multiple persons that he thinks are worthy of his affection, and becomes incorporated in their lives until they fall in love with him, then he just disappears," explained Koenma sounding a bit unsure if anything he was saying was actually true.

Yusuke caught up with Suichi and walked beside him in silence. After a while Suichi stopped and glared at Yusuke.

"Why are you following me?" he asked angrily.

Yusuke only smiled, "Remember, there are demons after you. I'm just here to make sure you don't get killed."

Suichi snorted, "There are no such things as demons." He walked away trying to leave Yusuke behind, but Yusuke just started following him again. Suichi looked at Yusuke, then broke into a run, trying to get away from him. Yusuke just chased after him. After about three miles of running, Suichi stopped only find that Yusuke was still right next to him.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" asked Suichi breathing hard.

"I told you," replied Yusuke who hadn't even broken a sweat.

"And I told you that there were no such things as demons," snapped Suichi.

"Oh, but there are. You, my dear friend, are a demon, and so is Hiei," stated Yusuke not caring that they were supposed to keep this a secret. It was already on the table, he might as well explain what the hell was going on.

"Your crazy."

"Am I? You didn't seem to think so before, and don't take your frustration and anger at Hiei out on me," said Yusuke sounding serious.

Suichi didn't respond, at first, "I don't understand what's going on. Even if I say I believe you and admit there are such things as demons, that doesn't seem to make this situation any less confusing."

"I know it doesn't, and I don't know the whole story, so I can't tell you as much as Hiei could. He knows more then I do about what's going on, but for some reason he's convinced that you need to find out on your own," said Yusuke huffing a frustrated sigh, "I supposed the only thing I can tell you will just make everything more confusing."

Suichi nodded, he was starting to understand. Apparently things in his life were a lot more complicated then he had thought.

_"Dammnit, Kurama."_

_"What did you just call me?"_

_"…"_

_"Who's Kurama?"_

_"Just someone I used to know…"_

"Yusuke, who's Kurama?" asked Suichi, he hadn't really gotten a sufficient answer from Hiei and was wondering if Yusuke had a better answer.

Yusuke hesitated a bit before saying, "You."

Hiei walked into his apartment, shutting the door behind him, he didn't bother to turn on any lights. He didn't want to see anything anyway. He walked over to his couch and fell face forward onto it. He had screwed up his own plan, Suichi knew too much before he was actually ready to take it. For one fleeting second Hiei considered trying to suppress Suichi's memory again, but there was really no point. There were two, maybe three, demons after him.

Hiei sighed into the couch, he couldn't deny it anymore. Karasu was alive, the signs were so clear now. He had somehow survived his fight with Kurama and had come back for the fox spirit. Hiei had never told anyone the real reason why Kurama had frozen up during the battle, the real reason why he had been so forceful to get Kurama's memory and his demon side suppressed. Hiei had known ever since the end of the Dark Tournament that Kurama was haunted by the memory of Karasu. It was only a few months before the fight with that demon that Kurama had told Hiei about the dreams and the voice.

At first Hiei didn't believe him, but one night it all changed.

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_Hiei moved from tree to tree at a quick pace as thunder and lighting stuck the air. The storm was steadily worsening, and Hiei was heading towards Kurama's house seeking shelter from the rain._

_A few moments later he was outside of Kurama's window, which was always slightly open for him. He stood on the tree branch near the half opened window, when he heard something. It sounded like Kurama was talking to himself, which was weird, because he didn't normally do that type of thing. Hiei reached out to open the window, when he heard something that made his heart stop._

_"Now, now, my dear kitsune. Don't struggle or I might have to damage your body slightly and I don't wish to do so," the voice belonged to someone that Hiei had been sure was dead and the world was better for it._

_Hiei shook his head hoping he was just hearing things and opened the window. He entered Kurama's darkroom silently, so he didn't alert the occupants just incase he wasn't imagining Karasu's voice. Hiei looked over at Kurama's bed and saw something that made his stomach clench._

_Kurama was lying on his back, shirt off, and on top of him, straddling Kurama's hips and holding him down, was Karasu looking quite solid and not at all dead. Hiei's eyes narrowed, as he felt rage surge through him like a fire. In less then a second Hiei had gotten Karasu off of Kurama and held his sword against Karasu's throat._

_Kurama sat up, breathing heavily and looking scared yet relived that Hiei had showed up when he did. Karasu looked angry, his once blue eyes started to turn red. Hiei responded by pushing his blade harder into Karasu's neck. Suddenly his blade when straight through Karasu's neck, but it didn't cut him. Karasu had gone transparent, he got up going through Hiei and stood behind him smirking. Hiei turned glaring at Karasu as he stood._

_"Oh, don't look so angry, fire brat. You didn't honestly think I wasn't a ghost, just a memory," taunted Karasu amusement evident in his voice, "I thought that you'd never believe Kurama and I would have him to myself every night."_

_Hiei slammed his sword home, since it would have so effect against a ghost, "Get the hell out, Karasu, or so help me I will torture you until you beg for death."_

_"Empty threats, fire brat," spat Karasu sounding rather annoyed._

_"Not so empty as you might think," stated Hiei sounding calm, despite the fact he was fighting a huge urge just to tear Karasu limb from limb._

_Karasu smirked, "We'll see, we will see. I'll be back, don't think for a second that you can protect him from me, Hiei, I have ways to get to him where you can't defend him no matter what." With that he faded away._

_The room was completely silent for a long while as Kurama and Hiei stayed in their respective spots just listening to the storm raging outside. Eventually Kurama broke the silence, but his voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke._

_"Thank you, Hiei. If you hadn't showed up…I…I don't know what might have happened." Kurama looked over at his friend trying to see the expression of his face, but Hiei was not facing him. If he was Kurama would have seen an expression that would have startled and confused him. The expression that was on Hiei's face at the moment was concern, concern for the one person he felt more then friendship towards._

_Hiei was thinking about what could have happened if he had not come to Kurama's house, he had been tempted to wait out storm to prove that he could. Yusuke had taken notice to the fact that Hiei always stayed at Kurama's when ever it rained, and had made jokes about it during their last mission from Spirit World, so Hiei was going to prove to the young Spirit Detective that he could survive a bit of rain. He had almost just stayed in the forest all night…_

_"Hiei?" came Kurama's tentative voice. Kurama was worried about Hiei, wondering what the fire demon was thinking about._

_Hiei turned to face Kurama his face completely free of emotion, "Are you alright?"_

_Kurama sighed, glad that Hiei was back to normal again, "Yes, I'm a bit shaken, but alright. He didn't hurt me."_

_"Good," said Hiei as he walked over to the window he had entered through._

_"Your not leaving are you?" asked Kurama sounding slightly disappointed._

_Hiei glance back at the Spirit Fox, before shutting the window completely and sitting under it between Kurama's desk and the wall, facing Kurama's bed. Kurama sat watching Hiei for a few moments, he seemed puzzled about Hiei's behavior._

_"Hn, go to sleep, fox," said Hiei closing his eyes. He heard Kurama sigh and lay back down, it was only a few moments before Hiei's heard Kurama's breathing even out, showing that he had fallen asleep. Hiei smiled slightly thinking, 'Don't worry, I'll stand guard. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise.'_

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Hiei rolled onto his back thinking about his unsaid promise to Kurama. He was at this point pretty sure he had failed at keeping his promise. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the events after that night. Karasu was right, after that night Kurama started to have frequent nightmares and would wake up with scratches across his chest or on his arms. He would never tell anyone about them, but Hiei had been keeping a close watch on him ever since that night.

Then they had gotten that mission, which Karasu used to his advantage and made Kurama freeze during battle. The human doctors had been basically right when they said that everything was in Kurama's head, because Karasu was in his head causing his sickness. Hiei had hoped that Yoko pick up his metal defenses and help out Suichi, but it didn't seem to be working that way. Yoko remained defiant since Karasu didn't scare him the way he did Kurama. So Hiei was left with one choice, he went to Koenma and got him to erase everyone's memories and suppress Yoko, which had angered the Spirit Fox greatly. Hiei wasn't necessarily lying when he had told Botan and Yusuke that Suichi couldn't handle all of Yoko's pent up power.

Hiei sighed again and sat up, "I should go find him, explain everything. That way he can at least be on his guard, and know what to expect." Hiei got up and walked to the door of his apartment and opened it, to find Suichi, who was about to knock, and Yusuke, who was standing behind him.

They all stood there in shocked silence for a bit before Hiei stepped back to let Suichi and Yusuke in. This time Hiei did turn on the lights as he passed the set of switches on the wall. He followed Suichi and Yusuke into his living room, where he had just been before thinking about everything that had happed to lead up to this point. Suichi sat down on the couch and Yusuke sat on the floor, leaning on the couch, Hiei, however, remained standing.

"You came back, " was the only thing that Hiei could think of saying to break the awkward silence. He was still stunned to find Suichi and Yusuke standing outside his door when he had just decided to look for them.

"I did," said Suichi slowly avoiding looking at Hiei, he felt guilty for some reason, like he was being ungrateful for something that Hiei had done for him but he didn't know what that was, "I'm sorry that I reacted like that. I was being a coward, just running away from my problems, I seem to be doing that a lot lately. But it all seemed so complicated, it still is complicated. I feel weak…and…lost." Suichi finished slowly sounding unsure of what he was saying was even the truth.

Hiei shook his head, "You don't need to be sorry. I understand, what it's like to find everything out at once and have people who aren't willing to explain everything that happened, because they're to afraid to or don't know themselves. It can be very frustrating, and I would have done the exact same thing as you if I was put in your situation." Hiei ran his hand through his hair focusing on the window across from him.

Suichi looked up at Hiei, that wasn't what he had expected. He had expected Hiei to be angry or annoyed, but Hiei was being understanding. It was weird, Suichi had only known Hiei for maybe a few weeks now, and he new that they way Hiei was acting was not in his character.

"Hiei, how long have I really know you?" asked Suichi suddenly.

Hiei was taken aback by the sudden question and the sharpness of Suichi's voice, but he knew what he meant. Hiei thought for a moment counting the months, years, "Five or six years." Hiei looked at Suichi as saw his shocked expression, "I know…it's difficult to…"

"No you don't know," Suichi cut him off looking upset, "What could have possessed you to erase six years of my past from my memory? Why would you do something like that?"

"If you knew the circumstances you would understand," said Hiei hoping that Suichi wouldn't just run off again.

"Oh, I would, would I. Okay, then explain. What happened? I want you to tell me everything," stated Suichi sounding completely serious and making sure that Hiei knew that he was not going to leave until he got an explanation, a good one.

Hiei took a deep breath and started to explain.


	9. Chapter 9

One Year Previously…

Koenma sat at his desk waiting with what little patience he had left for his four detectives. There had been one time that Koenma thought that he wouldn't need them anymore, but it didn't seem like it was going to turn out that way. After a short period of time the new way of ruling demon world ran out, when the new ruler was assassinated. This threw the Spirit and Demon Worlds in to chaos. Demons, who were now freely able to get into human world since the barrier was down, started to attack humans and shattered the unsteady peace between the worlds.

King Enma had immediately ordered the barrier to be resurrected again and Koenma was able to reassemble his old team. So it went back to the old way, demon's would cause havoc and Koenma would call in his four detectives.

Koenma looked up as Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei walked into his office. They all had their faces set, showing that they didn't really want to be there.

"Well, we're here. What do we have to do now?" asked Yusuke, the leader of the group. He had recently discovered that he was a hanyou or half-demon.

"It's going to be a quick case right? I have a date tonight," said Kuwabara. He was a human gifted with a very strong spirit awareness, which he had used to predict a earthquake in his freshman year of high school causing him to be very popular with the ladies, though he had eyes for only one girl. An ice apparition named Yukina, who had finally convinced to go out on a date with him.

"It all depends on if you get in the way or not, Kuwabara," stated Hiei, a fire apparition. He had once been able to stay in demon world, but, much to his displeasure, found himself stuck in living world after the new leader had been killed.

"Hiei, please don't start a fight with Kuwabara, I would also like to get this mission over with as quickly as possible," said Kurama, a Spirit Fox. He once was a notorious bandit, but had been injured by a strong pursuer and had to become a child of a human family to survive.

Koenma regarded his Spirit Detectives with a look of seriousness on his face, he was used to them bicker and bitch like this, and it didn't really bother him as long as they got the job done, "I need you to track down a demon who's been killing humans for fun. He shouldn't be to difficult to handle, I'd say only one of you would need to fight him, but we want to be careful he's tricky and could escape if your not paying attention."

The four detectives nodded to show that they understood, Koenma told them the location of the demon, which spirit world intelligence had determined previously to Koenma calling in Yusuke and his team. The four detectives left Spirit World and went straight to the spot where the demon was last sighted. Hiei caught the demon's energy signal and they followed it to a warehouse.

The demon was sitting up on a stack of crates, as if it was waiting for them. The four detectives waited for the demon to make the first move. The demon only laughed, "I see that Koenma hasn't told you anything about me."

"So? We don't need to know about your past to kick you ass," snapped Yusuke in his usual cocky manner.

The demon laughed again and jumped off the crates and walked into the light. This was the first time that the Spirit Detectives had actually seen the demon they were supposed to kill. He had long silver hair and fox ears. He had stormy grey eyes and was wearing black. He looked uncannily like Yoko Kurama with few differences.

Kurama froze at that moment as all of his dreams flooded into his mind, he saw this demon killing families, women, children, without remorse and finding amusement in it. He closed his eyes trying to block out the images, but the just became more vivid. A voice in head told him over and over that he was the one who had done those things.

Kurama's teammates noticed the change in Kurama's demeanor and decided to finish the demon off quickly. The demon didn't put up much of a fight and was finished off in very little time at all. Hiei left to tell Koenma that the demon had been dealt with, Kuwabara ran off saying he was late for his date, and Yusuke walked a very shaken Kurama home.

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A few weeks later Yusuke returned to Kurama's house when he had heard that he hadn't showed up at school all week. Shiori greeted Yusuke at the door and told him that Suichi had gotten sick after he had brought him home last Saturday. Yusuke started to get worried, Kurama wasn't the type to get sick. Yusuke asked if he could see him.

"I suppose that would be alright," said Shiori slowly, "I think it would be good for Suichi to know that his friend's care about him."

Yusuke nodded and went up to Kurama's room, it was dark. Yusuke closed the door behind him, when he did he heard a familiar voice.

"I should have known that you would come here after you heard Kurama wasn't going to school." Yusuke didn't need to ask who it was, he knew the voice belonged to Hiei, though it puzzled him to why Hiei was there and how he had gotten in.

"Hiei, Why are you here?"

"Your not the only one who cares about Kurama, you know, Yusuke," stated Hiei quietly.

Yusuke hadn't expected that, so he didn't respond. After a while he asked Hiei how Kurama was, since it was obvious the Kurama was sleeping at that moment.

"He's not doing well, Shiori has called the Doctor may times, and all he keeps saying it that it's all in Kurama's head," explained Hiei, who had apparently spying on the Midamino household since the last mission, Yusuke didn't know that Hiei had been keeping a watchful eye on Kurama a lot longer then that.

After a few more minutes of standing silence, Yusuke left to go tell the others what he had found out. Once Yusuke had left, Hiei returned to Sprit World, knowing what he needed to do.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Koenma was going through paperwork when Hiei walked into his office. He looked up with a slightly bemused expression on his face, he wasn't that surprised that Hiei had come. Since he had come quite a few times before trying to get Koenma to let him go back to demon world, only to be shot down.

"What is it this time, Hiei, you can't be coming here to ask to be sent back to demon world again," said Koenma.

"No, I'm here about Kurama, you know what's going on," stated Hiei sounding rather angry.

"I do," said Koenma slowly.

"You need to do something," said Hiei still keeping his angry tone though it didn't quite carry to his expression or actual emotions.

Koenma sighed and put his stamp down, "Hiei, there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry, but there isn't."

Hiei gave Koenma look that said very clearly that he did not believe the toddler prince, Hiei turned and left without another word.

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Hiei watched from the tree outside of Kurama's window as the doctor looked him over for the eleventh time in the past two weeks. The doctor was looking increasingly frustrated, because he couldn't actually find anything wrong with Kurama. Except for the fact that the life seemed to be draining away from him. Every day he got paler and weaker, Hiei could feel Kurama's ki getting fainter everyday that passed by at an alarming rate. He knew that Kurama was not going to live much longer at this rate and it was time to pay Koenma another visit.

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Hiei walked into Koenma's office slamming the door open to alert the young ruler to his presence. Koenma looked up from the large pile of paper work on his desk, he looked slightly annoyed. It was the fifth time Hiei had walked into his office and demanded he do something about Kurama's condition.

"Hiei, I've already told I can't do anything for Kurama," stated Koenma his annoyance carrying clearly through his voice.

Hiei walked up to Koenma's desk and knocked the paper work the ground, unsheathing his sword he point the tip at Koenma's neck. "Don't lie to me."

Koenma swallowed slowly, "Alright, alright. There is something I can do."

Hiei took a step back, sheathing his sword and waited for Koenma to explain.

"I could 'suppress' Kurama's demon side, until Kurama subconsciously decided he could fight again. Until then Kurama would be fully human and have no knowledge of demons or the spirit world --- or us," explained Koenma, "Hiei, do you understand that if Kurama is fully human and a demon goes after him, he could get killed."

"Kurama could die now, turn him human, let him forget. I'll worry about his safety," replied Hiei.

**Chapter 9**

Suichi sat on Hiei's couch staring at the floor. Hiei had just explained everything to him, what he really was. What had happened that was enough for Hiei to think that he needed forget everything. Now that he had heard the reason he understood and it made perfect sense. If he hadn't forgotten most of those six years he would have been dead now.

Suichi looked up at Hiei, he knew that there were still a few things that Hiei hadn't told him yet, but he wasn't going to say anything to him, yet. Hiei had told him enough for now, and Suichi needed some time to process it all. Hiei seemed to know this and didn't say anything else. So that's were they were now, sitting or standing in silence.

That was until there was a soft tapping noise on the sliding glass door leading to a small balcony. The three boys looked over to see Botan, now wearing a pink kimono and holding an oar. Hiei walked over and opened the door and stood back so Botan could enter.

"I found out from Koenma what the black rose means," she said quietly to Hiei just incase Suichi was still on edge about demons and Spirit World.

"What did he say?" asked Hiei noticing that she still had the rose with her.

Botan started to explain everything in a low voice, which made Yusuke angry, because he was being left out of the conversation. Which in turn lead to a squabble between the young Spirit Detective and the Ferry Girl. This greatly annoyed Hiei, who wasted no time in telling to cut it out. They stopped fighting.

"Do they always fight like that?" asked Suichi sounding amused.

"They do," answered Hiei, before turning to Botan and telling her to explain.

The only thing that kept the blue haired girl from ignoring Hiei and continuing to argue with Yusuke was the look on fire demon's face. He was angry and the young Ferry Girl had learned from experience that, that was not a good thing. So Botan took a deep breath and started to explain what Koenma had said, though she sounded rather annoyed that she had to start all over.

"So is this Azriel after Hiei?" asked Yusuke sounding confused, but this was normal.

"I'm not sure who he's after, Koenma couldn't say," explained Botan slowly.

"Well, we'll deal with that when and if he comes back. Right now we need to deal with the demon that's after Suichi, if you two remember he doesn't have his powers back yet," stated Hiei.

"I don't even have my memory back," muttered Suichi still hanging away from the group, though they all had heard what he said.

Botan walked over to him smiling sweetly, "Cheer up, Suichi, your memory will come back soon and Yusuke and Hiei can take care of that demon so you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Suichi looked at Botan without responding he knew that she was just trying to cheer him up. Though that seemed like an impossibility a this moment.

"So what do we do now?" Yusuke asked Hiei as Botan continued to try to get Suichi to cheer up, "Do you even know who this demon is."

Hiei glanced at Yusuke, hesitating. He knew who the demon was and he had purposely left out Karasu when he had explain what had happened to cause for the necessity of Suichi loosing his memory to keep him alive. Hiei wasn't sure if he wanted to admit that Karasu was indeed alive and was once again after Suichi, or rather the demon aspect of Suichi, Kurama.

Yusuke was slightly unnerved by his friend's silence, "Hiei?" he looked at the fire demon trying to catch a sign of what he was thinking. Hiei's face went blank as Yusuke looked back at him, but not fast enough Yusuke had caught the expression on his face, which made it obvious that he knew who was after Suichi, "You know don't you, why do you share it with the rest of the class, hm?"

"Karasu," stated Hiei quietly watching the young spirit detective's face change to confusion again.

"Karasu? But he's dead," said Yusuke trying to figure out if Hiei was making a bad joke or something,

Hiei gave Yusuke a look to show that he was completely serious, "He isn't dead, not yet anyway."

"What!" hissed Yusuke looking as if he had received an electric shock, "How the hell did he survive!"

"Did who survive?" asked Suichi who had listened in on their conversation and caught the last bit about someone surviving something.

Yusuke and Hiei exchanged glances and Yusuke started to explain, "You wouldn't remember him, but during the Dark Tournament you fought a Quest Class demon named Karasu. Well, somehow he survived your fight, even though we were all sure that you had killed him, though you still lost the fight."

Suichi blinked, "Wait, I lost to a dead guy?"

"Yeah, the whole tournament committee was against us and junk, but that isn't really the point right now," said Yusuke fighting the urge to laugh.

Hiei put his head in his hand, "God…I'm surrounded by idiots."

"Hey! I resent that," stated Yusuke and Suichi together.

"Go ahead and resent it, I don't care," replied Hiei walking out of the room.

Suichi and Yusuke exchanged glances, Botan just looked confused. Yusuke shrugged and flopped onto the couch.

"What do we do now?" asked Suichi moving over to stand in front of Yusuke.

"Beats the hell outta me," answered Yusuke stretching and giving a yawn.

Suichi sighed and went to find Hiei, he found him standing in his room staring out the window. Suichi entered the room and closed the door behind him quietly. Hiei looked back, seeing that it was only Suichi he returned to the window.

"Hiei?" said Suichi tentatively.

"Hn."

Suichi walked closer to Hiei and stood next to him looking out the window. They stood in silence, neither of them knowing what to say. Suddenly Suichi had captured Hiei's lips in a passionate kiss, but just as sudden as the kiss had started it stopped. Suichi looked away.

Hiei brought his hand to his lips, "Why?" was the only thing he could say.

"I don't know," mumbled Suichi still not daring to face Hiei. A few moments later he left the room and Hiei continued to stare at the spot where Suichi had once stood, confused about what had just happened.


	10. Chapter 10

Suichi walked closer to Hiei and stood next to him looking out the window. They stood in silence, neither of them knowing what to say. Suddenly Suichi had captured Hiei's lips in a passionate kiss, but just as sudden as the kiss had started it stopped. Suichi looked away.

Hiei brought his hand to his lips, "Why?" was the only thing he could say.

"I don't know," mumbled Suichi still not daring to face Hiei. A few moments later he left the room and Hiei continued to stare at the spot where Suichi had once stood, confused about what had just happened.

**Chapter Ten**

Yusuke leaned against the wall outside of Meio Privet Academy, he watched the students leave the school grounds as he waited for Hiei. He had done this every day for that past week, just waiting, for some sort of news or event, but nothing had happened.

Yusuke sighed, "How can it go from extremely confusing to normal in just a night?" He looked away from the entrance following two good looking girls as they passed him with his eyes.

"Looking for someone?" asked a mildly bored voice.

Yusuke looked away from the girls, turning to see who spoke, "Hiei! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Hiei gave Yusuke a look, then looked over a the two girls who where walking away and had no clue that Yusuke had just been checking them out, "You do know that Keiko will be pissed if she finds out that you were checking out girls, right?"

"It crossed my mind," stated Yusuke as if he didn't really care.

"Really," Hiei started to walk away, "So you won't mind if I tell her that her fiancée is looking for some more ass."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Yusuke looking dumbfounded that Hiei would say something like what he had just said.

Hiei glanced back at Yusuke, but kept walking, Yusuke followed him muttering something, "Don't sound so surprised, Yusuke, I'm not the same Hiei you used to know."

"Could have fooled me," retorted Yusuke sarcastically, he looked back at the school wondering where Suichi was, "What, your boyfriend not coming with us today?"

"He's not my boyfriend, I don't even know what gave you that idea," replied Hiei, who had not told Yusuke about Suichi kissing him, for the second time, "Your starting to sound like Sean."

Yusuke shrugged and they continued down the street in silence, for two seconds, "So what are we going to do?"

Hiei glanced over at Yusuke, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Suichi knows about everything but still doesn't have his powers, Karasu is after him, Matsura is still on the loose, and we have this other psychopathic demon to deal with now," answered Yusuke looking at Hiei, "What are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

Yusuke stopped walking, not sure that he had heard Hiei right, which forced him to run after Hiei a few moments later to catch up, "What do you mean nothing?"

"We, that is to say, you and I, will be doing nothing. I don't work for Spirit World anymore, so Matsura is not my problem she is yours. Suichi can decide to what-ever he wants with the information givin to him and we can't do anything to effect when he get's his powers back. I will handle Karasu on my own, and Azriel is apparently after Botan, since he's been sending her Black Roses everyday, so it's not my most pressing concern," stated Hiei blandly.

"So that's it then," replied Yusuke quietly.

This time it was Hiei that stopped, "What's it?"

"So much for not being the Hiei I used to know," replied Yusuke stopping a little further up the street.

"Excuse me?"

Yusuke half-sighed, "You can be so self centered sometimes, you know that? So your just going to find Karasu and kill him all by yourself, and then just disappear, right? Since you don't need to concern yourself with matters from Spirit World or helping your friends."

"I never said I wasn't going to help my friends, I just said that Azriel and Matsura weren't the first things on my list of things to do," replied Hiei.

"What about Suichi?"

"What about him, I already said we couldn't do anything to help him get his powers back. He has to do it on his own, if you don't believe me then ask Koenma," explained Hiei.

Yusuke sighed, "That's not what I meant…"

"Then what are you talking about, because I'm drawing a blank," stated Hiei getting slightly annoyed.

Yusuke turned back to look at Hiei, "Suichi told me, you know…About what happened."

Hiei didn't look at Yusuke, "What did you tell him?"

"I told him to talk to you," stated Yusuke, then he started to walk away, but stopped, "Hiei, you should decide soon, who you love more…Suichi or Kurama, because you decision will have a big effect on what happens next."

Hiei watched Yusuke walk away, _'Who do I love more? What the hell does that mean?'_

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Suichi sat alone in the library, thinking. _'It's been a whole week and he hasn't said anything about that night.' **"Here's the question, do you really want him too?" **'I don't know…sometimes I do and sometimes…but either way I would still like to know what he thinks.' **"Are you sure about that? It might not be the answer you want." **'Yeah, well not knowing is driving me insane.' **"But you don't even know him that well, you known each other for what, half a month now?" **'Well, technically I've known him for seven years.' **"Yes, but you don't remember any of that do you?" **'No…' **"Then it doesn't count."** 'But…'_

Suichi stopped himself, "I'm arguing with myself again."

"You seem to be doing that a lot lately."

Suichi nearly jumped out of his skin, "Hiei! Don't sneak up me! Are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?"

Hiei sat on the table Suichi was sitting at, "No, but it's really not my fault you didn't hear me come in."

"Yeah, yeah," said Suichi waving Hiei off, "Did you want something?"

Hiei gave Suichi a look, "Do I have to want something, to talk to you?"

"Uh, no," Suichi looked down, slightly embarrassed, "Sorry."

"It's fine, actually I did want something," replied Hiei.

Suichi glared at him, "Jerk, what do you want?"

"The essay, it's due Monday and I want to read over it and check it before we hand it in. I'm not about to have you screw up my record with your Third highest ranking scores," stated Hiei holding his hand out for the essay.

"Oh, shut-up," muttered Suichi pulling the essay out of his notebook and handing it to Hiei, "And the score post changed, I'm only just behind you."

"Really, I don't check the scores, I always get first," replied Hiei smirking slightly.

"Well, you'll be dropping to second very soon, since you only beat me by five points on the last test," stated Suichi.

Hiei jumped off the table, "It was six actually, you should work on your math."

"I thought you didn't check the scores," stated Suichi smugly, starting his essay for World History.

"Shut-up," retorted Hiei walking out of the library.

Suichi glanced back at Hiei as he shut the door. Suichi sighed and went back to writing about ancient wars, _'I thought maybe he might have said something since we were alone.'_

-----------------------------

"What was the point of that?" "Hiei" asked Karasu as he handed him the essay.

"Obviously your mind doesn't understand the art of subtly, dear sister," replied Karasu setting the essay on fire.

Matsura rolled her eyes as she changed into a form of a female student from Meio Private Academy, "Obviously your plan is to idiotic for my mind to follow. Your going to have them fail an assignment? That's real diabolical."

"I'm destroying Suichi's trust in Hiei," replied Karasu looking slightly annoyed.

"By having them fail an assignment for school, you really think Suichi is going to throw away his trust in Hiei just because he lost some stupid essay?" asked Matsura," I hope your not banking on that happening."

Karasu gave Matsura a look, "Every little bit helps." the he disappeared.

Matsura rolled her eyes at the place where Karasu once stood, "Damn your stupid." She smirked, _'You couldn't even tell who I really was.' _Azriel smiled and disappeared as well.

-------------------------------

_The pain I feel is unbearable, it's really all I can do to just stand here. He'll end it soon I can sense it, I'm still trying to figure out why the potion didn't last fifteen minutes like it should have._

_"Don't move, Kurama! Your surrounded by bombs!"_

_Yusuke, did you really think I could? I've lost all hope of surviving this fight anyway. But don't worry I'm taking him with me, I'm not about to let my friends die because I'm to weak to beat him._

_"Didn't you say that you would not fear what you could not see? Well, here's a closer look," stated my opponent lightly, "You know this fight has been an exercise in futility," he took a step closer, "Your tired…" another step, "Your weak…" another step, "Your pathetic…" he is standing less then a foot away from me now, "Yet, you have a masochistic streak that wants indulging, so here goes."_

_The bombs closed in on me, I could feel every explosion as if it happened in slow motion. The pain was…_

_I thought for sure that, that last attack would kill me as well and the match would end in a draw. Neither happened, I'm alive and I've lost the fight. I can't even remember parts of it now. And even though he's dead, I still feel his presence, I want nothing less then to get out of this stadium, but this fight isn't over yet. I've finished mine and lost, but my teammates still have to fight theirs and I know that they will win…They have to…_

_"You really thought that you had killed me, didn't you? How sad. Poor Kurama, it seems that you have underestimated me again…"_

_I look around; I am standing in a dark room. A woman and her young daughter are lying on the ground. They are both covered in blood, both dead. I look at them feeling nothing. Again, I look for the killer, still unaware, still not knowing. I look back at the woman and the young girl, then at my hands. My right hand is holding a knife, covered in blood. I take a step back, dropping the knife._

_I look back up, I see myself covered in blood that is not my own. I close my eyes, not wanting to believe, but knowing that I killed that man, that I killed the woman and her daughter…_

_What's happening to me? I'm loosing my mind aren't I? He's dead, I saw him die…Please let it be true…Let it just be my mind playing tricks on me…He's dead…He has to be…_

Suichi woke up in a cold sweat, he sat up looking around his room. His dreams had been getting worse ever since Hiei had told him about what had happened to cause for the need to erase his memories. Suichi looked over at the clock in was almost noon, which was fine, it was Sunday which meant no school.

Suichi got out of bed and got dressed, he walked out of his room and down the stairs heading towards the kitchen. He vaguely registered that the house was completely silent. Upon entering the kitchen he noticed a note on the counter.

He picked up the note, it was from his mother. She had gone out shopping and was going to back in a few hours. He set the note back on the counter, picked up a pen and wrote at the bottom, _Went out, be back for dinner. Love, Suichi. _He set the pen down and left the house.

He headed towards the park, he need some place quiet to think, other then an empty house. He entered the park and sat down on a bench. He started to think about the dreams he had been having recently, _'Now I wish I didn't know why I had my memory erased, those dreams were weird enough.'_ Suichi sighed and looked up at the cloudy sky, it looked like it was going to rain, _'What am I going to do now?'_

----------------------------------------

"Are you serious!" Yusuke was on the verge of laughing, Koenma had just told him that Botan had captured Matsura, "Good on ya', Botan, maybe you should be Spirit Detective." Yusuke smiled at the young ferry girl, who looked confused.

"It wasn't me who captured her, honestly Lord Koenma, there's no way. I'm not strong enough to fight demons!" She sounded worried that Koenma would actually appoint her as Spirit Detective.

Koenma gave Botan a dumbfounded look, "But you were just telling me not even a half an hour ago how you beat her up with your oar."

"I did?" asked Botan still really confused.

"Maybe she insulted her hair and you went into a rage, beat the crap out of her with your oar and brought her in and now you can't remember any of it because you were so angry, that she said that you dyed your hair," suggested Hiei who was leaning against the wall near the door to Koenma's office.

"Shut-up, Hiei!" snapped Botan.

"Don't you two start!" exclaimed Koenma in a semi-pleading tone, while rubbing his temples, he was starting to get a headache.

"So what are we going to do next?" asked Yusuke glancing at Botan and Hiei who were currently glaring at each other.

"Well, the Ogres still haven't found were Karasu or Azriel are hiding, so there isn't much we can do in the current situation," conceded Koenma.

"So what? Just kick back and wait for the Ogres to find something?" asked Hiei sounding annoyed that they had come up with nothing in the past week.

"Or you can go out looking for them yourself, Hiei, I really don't care," muttered Koenma.

"What's got you so stressed, Koenma?" asked Hiei.

"Just this demon world situation," he sighed, " once it was peaceful and I didn't have to worry about what was going on."

"Ten to one it was Karasu's fault," stated Yusuke crossing his arms and looking rather grim.

"Despite what you think not everything is one person's fault, Yusuke," reprimanded Koenma.

"Do you really think that Karasu wasn't the one that killed Enki?" asked Yusuke looking slightly surprised.

"How do I know, Yusuke, why don't you ask him when you see him," snapped Koenma getting annoyed.

Yusuke was about to respond when Botan grabbed his arm, saying that the meeting was over, then she pushed Hiei and Yusuke out of Koenma's office and told them to go home.

"Wow, you really think that demon has gotten that bad?" Yusuke asked Hiei, while looking at the now closed door of Koenma's office. Hiei didn't reply, "Hiei?" Yusuke looked behind him and saw that Hiei wasn't there, Yusuke looked around confused, _'Now where'd he go?'_

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It had been raining for almost an hour, and yet Suichi was still sitting on the same park bench thinking about his dreams. He hadn't moved at all, he was starting at the ground, his eyes completely out of focus. One would think he was dead or something.

_'I don't even have any power to fight him, I could die…' _Suichi paused in his thoughts, _'I could die? No…Hiei won't let me die, even if I can't defend myself, right?'_

"Hey…"

Suichi nearly fell off the bench, he glared at the person that had snuck up on him, "Didn't I tell you not to do that!"

Hiei blinked, "Did you?"

Suichi gave him a 'well that was a dumb question' look, "Where have you been?"

"Looking for you, do you always sit alone in the rain?" asked Hiei as he sat next to Suichi on the bench.

Suichi didn't reply, he hadn't realized it was raining, he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice, but he wasn't going to tell Hiei that.

"You okay?" asked Hiei concerned.

"Yeah, fine, why?" answered Suichi trying to sound nonchalant.

"I dunno, you just seem off," said Hiei shrugging.

"I wonder why," muttered Suichi looking away.

Hiei looked at Suichi confused for a second, "What did you expect me to do, Suichi. You just kissed me and left, what did you want me to do? Chase after you?"

Suichi replied before thinking, "Yes! Is that so wrong?"

Hiei was taken aback by Suichi's reply, to be honest it wasn't what he was expecting. He didn't know what to say next.

Suichi glanced over at Hiei, who looked shocked and confused, Suichi sighed, "Never mind…that's not what I meant…I mean," Suichi stopped he found that he couldn't say anything else, because Hiei was kissing him.


	11. Chapter 11

"What did you expect me to do, Suichi. You just kissed me and left, what did you want me to do? Chase after you?"

Suichi replied before thinking, "Yes! Is that so wrong?"

Hiei was taken aback by Suichi's reply; to be honest it wasn't what he was expecting. He didn't know what to say next.

Suichi glanced over at Hiei, who looked shocked and confused, Suichi sighed, "Never mind…that's not what I meant…I mean," Suichi stopped he found that he couldn't say anything else, because Hiei was kissing him.

**Chapter 11**

Suichi shifted slightly, allowing himself to slip away in the kiss, when it suddenly stopped. Suichi looked at Hiei with a confused and slightly hurt expression. "Hiei?"

"I can't," Hiei paused, "We can't…"

Suichi was getting slightly agitated, "Do what? Kiss? Why not?"

"Because it's not you," mumbled Hiei without thinking.

"It's not…"Suichi dropped what he was about to say, realizing what Hiei meant. _'Kurama…'_ Tears welled up in Suichi's eyes, it was stupid…Hiei loved Kurama, not him…but they were the same person, weren't they? Was Kurama different? _'We're not the same…' _Suichi shook his head and stood, "Good bye, Hiei."

Hiei grabbed Suichi's wrist before he could walk away, "Wait…"

Suichi pulled out of Hiei's grasp, "Why should I? Just leave me alone, Hiei." Suichi walked away with out another word.

Hiei watched him leave, recalling what Yusuke had said, _"Hiei, you should decide soon, who you love more…Suichi or Kurama, because you decision will have a big effect on what happens next." _Hiei ran a hand through his hair, _'What is going to happen next?'_

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Suichi walked down the street, not caring where he was going, thinking. Everything had just jumped from normal to complicated in a span of about three seconds. That seemed to be the pattern in his life.

_'One week ago I find out that I am a demon that possessed at human body to survive and I basically went from thief to detective in a day. End up getting hunted by some weird stalker demon, and have to have my memories erased in order to save my life. Only to relearn everything one year later, because this demon is still after my life…and now Hiei tells me that he doesn't love me…he loves Kurama, which is essentially me,' _Suichi stopped, his thoughts weren't even making sense! Why did things have to be so complicated? "I wish I knew everything that happened…I want my memories back, even if I'll turn into a _different_ person or something. It's better then not knowing."

Suichi looked up at the sky and yelled, "Did you hear me? I said I want my memories back!" He waited, face turned up to the sky, just waiting for something to happen.

"Does that mean you wish to fight again?" asked a calm voice.

Suichi turned, he didn't recognize the person that was standing before him but he had a feeling that he knew this person, "Who are you?"

"My name is not important at this moment, but if you wish to fight again. I can unlock you memories, you never lost them, they were just locked away so you could not remember them," the young man took a slight step closer, "but you must promise me you won't give up, you must fight, or I cannot help you. If you do not fight, then by giving your memories back I would have sentenced you to death."

Suichi couldn't comprehend the possibility of memories being able to kill him, he had always thought himself to be strong, even before he found out he was part demon. "That can't be possible…" started Suichi ready to explain it away, but the young man cut him off.

"I can and it is!" the young man insisted, "You need to understand, you are supposed to unlock you memories slowly on your own so they would not be able to weaken you as they had before. If you don't have the will to fight, Karasu will kill you. You don't know how close he came before; if Hiei hadn't figured out Karasu's plan you would be dead now."

Suichi felt a slight jolt of fear at the mention of Karasu's name; he knew that Kurama had been frightened by him. The fear faded away as Suichi remembered that they were different, it was Kurama that feared Karasu, he didn't. Still Suichi considered his options carefully, he hadn't been aware that getting his memories back could be dangerous. _'I don't have to go through with this…Hiei will stop Karasu, he will protect me.' _Suichi shook his head, as if to shake away the thoughts, _'No…I can't rely on Hiei anymore. I will defend myself, I won't rely on anyone but myself…even if I don't know how to use my powers…No! I can't think that way...' _Suichi shivered becoming acutely aware of the rain, he was going to make himself sick at this rate, _'I need to decide now.'_

"Have you reached your decision?" asked the young man, already knowing the answer.

Suichi nodded, "I'm ready to fight, I won't let him beat me."

_'Let's hope your right. Enma forgive me,' _thought the young man as his eyes started to glow white.

Suichi met the young man's eyes and found himself frozen; he couldn't move nor look away. He started to feel weak as if his life energy was starting to drain from him, Suichi's breathing started to become painful. He felt like he was drowning, and yet he was breathing normally. He felt as if he was going to collapse, if not for the invisible force holding him up. He felt as if he was dying and living at the same time.

Then suddenly it all stopped…

------------------------------------------

Kurama opened his eyes, wincing at the sunlight that was streaming through the curtains into his eyes. He felt cold, despite the fact he was curled up under at least three blankets. He couldn't quite remember where he was or how he had gotten there. He hoped nothing bad had happened.

"Suddenly remembering everything that had happened to you during a six year period in ten seconds, it's not a bad thing, but I'm sure it left you with one hell of a headache. Through it probably didn't help that you came down with a cold because you spent two hours in the rain."

Kurama sat up; he was surprised to see Yusuke standing at the foot of the bed. Kurama looked around; he recognized the place, **_'Hiei's apartment.' _**"How long have I been asleep?"

"A month," stated Yusuke matter-o-factly.

**_'At least fifteen hours,' _**stated the same voice that had told Kurama were he was, **_'And it's basically my fault we got a cold.' _**"Fifteen hours?" question Kurama.

"Wow…you must be psychic or something, Suichi, how did you know the exact amount of hours you were asleep?" asked Yusuke surprised and a little impressed.

Kurama gave him a weird look, "Since when have you started to call me Suichi?" **_'Don't answer that, Yusuke. I got it." _**Kurama remembered everything that had happened in the past year, he knew that these memories were not his, they were Suichi's.

Yusuke started to chuckle slightly, "I guess I should start calling you Kurama again. Our lives never stay exactly the same, do they?"

"Yes, it seems that we will never live a normal life," replied Kurama smiling.

"You two live normal lives, how can you suggest such a thing, you would both die of boredom," stated Hiei entering the room, he had over heard Yusuke and Kurama's short conversation.

"Shut-up, Hiei, you would too," replied Yusuke. Hiei shrugged but didn't reply. Yusuke rolled his eyes, "So did you find him?"

"No, Azriel has dropped off the map again; he even sent Botan a goodbye letter. I guess he accomplished what ever he came here to do or something," said Hiei.

"You mean Azriel came to human world just to give my memory back?" asked Kurama.

"That and bring in Matsura," answered Yusuke, who had figured out that it was Azriel disguised as Botan who had brought Matsura in, "Which only leaves us one more demon to find and get rid of."

"Karasu," said Hiei and Kurama together. Yusuke smirked, glad that everything was getting back to normal, well as normal as their lives could be.

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George ran into Koenma's office, he was holding a very important transcript from intelligence. Koenma looked up from his paper work as George handed him the piece of paper. Koenma read through it quickly, as he read an expression that was not normally seen on the young prince's face appeared.

"Summon, Botan to my office," Koenma ordered calmly.

A few minutes Botan walked into Koenma's office, she immediately noticed the look on Koenma's face, he was smirking.

"Koenma, sir? What did you need me for?" asked Botan slightly worried by the look on Koenma's face. He would get that look when he was about to do something rather rash.

"Get Yusuke, Hiei, and Suichi up here. We've found that bastard," stated Koenma handing the transcript to Botan.

She read through it and nodded, then left Spirit World to find Yusuke, Hiei, and Suichi. Things were going to be back to normal soon.

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The entire room was destroyed; it looked like a twister had run through it. At least it would if the twister could hurl grenades as it passed through. The book shelves were either in pieces or incinerated furniture and papers everywhere. There were large holes in the floor and walls. Karasu stood in the middle of it all, trying to rein his anger.

His own brother had ruined his well layed plans, by giving Kurama the key to surviving. Self-confidence, Karasu had worked so hard to make sure that Kurama was afraid of him. So he could use that fear to destroy him. But Azriel had givin' Kurama his powers well allowing Suichi remain separate, a feat that Kurama could not achieve on his own.

"I was so close…" muttered Karasu, blowing another hole in the wall. He new that spirit world was looking for him and that they would probably find him soon, if they hadn't already. He needed a plan, and fast.

Karasu calmed himself, not all was lost after all, he had one more trick up his sleeve.


	12. Chapter 12

"_Warning…Warning…Warning…"_

Red lights flashed as two members of the Spirit World Special Defense Force (SDF) ran down the hall of the lowest level of Spirit World jail. There had been a breach, and someone had killed a lot of guards. The two SDF members reached the end of the hall, to see one the very last cell had been completely blown apart; there was no body, however. The prisoner had been set free.

"Alert Koenma…" One of the members of the SDF ordered a nearby ogre.

**Chapter 12**

Koenma was nearly be side himself with glee, once Karasu was defeated he would have his old team back and he wouldn't have to worry about Suichi getting killed anymore.

Koenma's happiness quickly disappeared, however, when he heard the sirens. Koenma was about to order George to find out what was going on, but before the words could form an ogre guard from the Spirit World jail ran into his office.

"Sir, Matsura is gone! Her cell was completely blown apart," gasped the ogre, he had ran all the way from the jail to Koenma's office with the news.

Koenma slammed his fist on his desk, "How the hell did he get up here!"

"Sir?" started George timidly; he had never seen Koenma this angry before.

'_I have to warn them,' _thought Koenma walking out of his office, planning on heading to the human world.

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Botan flew towards Hiei's apartment, knowing that was where the boys would be. She still had the transcript that Koenma had givin her, it had the coordinates to where Karasu was hiding out. He was in demon world, and Botan was slightly worried about sending the boys into demon world while it had no order, but it seemed that they had no choice.

Just as Hiei's apartment complex came into view, Botan was knocked from her oar. She fell towards a small grove of trees, thankfully someone caught her before she hit any of the trees, but it wasn't anyone she expected.

Azriel had saved her; they landed on a tree branch. He held his hand over her mouth and motioned to her not to speak, while above Matsura took her place and her oar, heading off towards Hiei's apartment complex. Once Matsura had disappeared, Azriel removed his hand from Botan's mouth.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine, but how did Matsura get out of jail?" questioned Botan.

"Karasu, he needs her for his new plan to work," answered Azriel, letting go of Botan.

"New plan?"

"I don't know the details, but my guess is that he's going to try to get Suichi away from his friends," stated Azriel.

Botan gasped, she had recently gotten her memories back, "I have to warn them!" She jumped from the tree branch, they weren't that high up.

Azriel followed her, "You won't make it in time."

"Just watch me," Botan shot back as she started to run towards Hiei's apartment complex, hoping that she would make it in time. Despite what she had just said, she wasn't all that confident that she would make it there before Matsura.

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Matsura landed on the small balcony of Hiei's apartment, she wasn't so happy with the new arrangements, but her brother had got her out of jail so she owed him. She adjusted the pink Kimono that she wore and picked up the memories from her current form. She tapped on the glass to get the boys attention.

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Hiei and Yusuke looked up to see Botan standing outside; she looked worried and happy at the same time. Hiei and Yusuke exchanged glances, before Hiei walked over to unlock the sliding glass door and let the ferry girl in.

"What's up, Botan?" asked Yusuke.

"Koenma wants to see you two, I think the ogres have found where Karasu is hiding out," answered Matsura, mentally gagging at how chipper she needed to be.

"Really?" exclaimed Yusuke, looking excited, Matsura nodded. He looked at Hiei, "Time to kick some ass."

Hiei nodded, smirking slightly. He was ready to take Karasu and end this ordeal, he was eager to get things back to how they used to be.

Hiei opened up a portal to Spirit World and stepped into it, followed by Yusuke. Before Yusuke entered the portal he looked back at Matsura.

"Aren't you coming with us?" asked Yusuke sounding a bit confused.

"Uh, no," Matsura paused, "Koenma thought you guys might need some help with Karasu so I'm going to go get Kuwabara." She smiled, while taking a couple steps back.

Yusuke hesitated a bit, "Okay…" Yusuke walked into the portal and it disappeared.

Matsura breathed a sigh of relief; she had thought she was caught for a moment there.

"Botan?"

Matsura turned to see Kurama, "Oh, hello Suichi…or is it Kurama now? I had heard that you got your memory back."

"I did," replied Kurama slowly, "Where did Yusuke and Hiei go?"

"Well the ogres found out where Karasu was hiding so Koenma told me to get Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, and yourself of course…Hiei and Yusuke went to Spirit World already. I didn't know that you were here, I was just about to…" Matsura trailed off, Kurama was staring at her with an odd look on his face, "Is there something wrong, Kurama?"

"Maybe…" answered Kurama as he walked around Matsura.

"Maybe?" repeated Matsura sounding confused.

"Well, Hiei and Yusuke knew that I was here and if you had said that Koenma had requested that we all go to Spirit World, they would have waited for me," stated Kurama, "but apparently you did not tell them that I was to accompany them to Spirit World."

"Uh…" stammered Matsura, Kurama was much better at seeing through tricks then Suichi was, and she had not been prepared for that. _'What do I care, I have him away from the fire brat and that idiot'_

Kurama stopped circling Matsura and stood in front of her, "You'd best explain yourself, Botan, if that is really who you are."

Matsura smirked, "Ahh, the foxy is clever. My brother was right." Matsura shifted her form from copying Botan to her real form.

Kurama stepped back, "I was right, what do you want with me!" He shot a glare at Matsura, waiting for her to make the first move.

Matsura snorted, "It's not what I want with you, fox. I want nothing with you. It's what my brother wants, and you should already know what that is."

"Do you really think that I would be easily captured?" asked Kurama summoning his Rose Whip.

"I've done it once and I can do it again, but of course it's not like I don't have help," stated Matsura smirking.

It was at that moment that Kurama sensed another presence in the room. His eyes widened he had never wanted to see him again after the Dark Tournament, but Karasu had come back, they hadn't managed to kill him yet.

"Dear Kurama, do you really think that you could escape me?"

Kurama's eyes flashed amber as he whipped around to face Karasu, he glared at the vampire-like demon. Karasu looked amused.

"What is it, Kurama? Are you not overjoyed to see me?" asked Karasu cynically.

Kurama didn't respond he just continued to glare at Karasu, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction of angering him.

Karasu stepped closer to Kurama, still smirking, "Are you afraid? Have I scared you speechless?"

"I am not afraid of you, Karasu. Your pathetic, a snowball has a better chance in hell then you have to kill me," snapped Kurama, his eyes now glowing amber.

Karasu regarded Kurama with an odd look, "Are you going to fight me, Kurama?"

"No," Kurama smirked, his eyes becoming a deeper amber.

"Who are you?" asked Karasu his eye's narrowing, he knew that this was not Kurama, but it wasn't Yoko either.

Suichi smirked, "My name is Suichi, and I'm not afraid of you."

"That's good, it just makes you easier to capture," replied Karasu chuckling darkly.

"What?" Suichi took a step back and was grabbed from behind by Matsura, who placed a word on his chest. The spiritual power that Suichi had built up shorted and electrocuted him from the inside as a result of the word, causing Suichi to pass out.


	13. Chapter 13

Suichi took a step back and was grabbed from behind by Matsura, who placed a word on his chest. The spiritual power that Suichi had built up shorted and electrocuted him from the inside as a result of the word, causing Suichi to pass out, just then Botan and Azriel burst into Hiei's apartment.

"Suichi!"

Karasu turned and saw Botan and Azriel, "You're too late, tell the fire brat that his plan has failed and Kurama is mine."

Botan glared at Karasu, "Kurama will never be yours, Hiei will kill you before you could even lay a finger on him!"

Karasu created an explosion in front of Botan's face, but it didn't effect her, "It's a little late for that, don't you think?"

"What?" Botan sounded worried and shocked.

Karasu smirked and disappeared with Suichi and Matsura. Botan stared at the spot where they had been standing wishing she could have done something to stop them, she turned to Azriel.

"Why didn't you do anything?!!!" she yelled glaring at him.

Azriel stepped away from the angry girl, "I'm no match for my brother," he said holding his hands up in a defensive position.

Botan stared at Azriel for a moment in silence, "HE'S YOUR BROTHER!?!"

**Chapter 13**

Yusuke and Hiei walked down the hallway that lead to Koenma's office, they saw the ogres running around, tuning over desks, and dumping out boxes as if they were looking for something. Yusuke and Hiei exchanged looks before walking into Koenma's office. Yusuke was immediately knocked over by a big blue blur.

"Yusuke, sir! It's horrible we don't know where Lord Koenma went!" exclaimed Koenma's right hand ogre, George.

Yusuke glared at ogre "Get off me!"

"Sorry," George stood and helped Yusuke up.

"Now what was this about Koenma not being here, Botan just told us that Koenma wanted to see us," stated Hiei, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Well, he sent Botan down to the living world to give you information on where Karasu was hiding, but then Matsura escaped an--"

Yusuke cut him off, "Matsura escaped?"

George gave him a scared look, "Yes…"

Yusuke and Hiei looked at each other, "Kurama!" They turned around and ran to the exit of Spirit World, to head back to Living world.

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Hiei and Yusuke arrived at Hiei's apartment a few minutes later. Botan looked up when the door opened, when she saw Hiei and Yusuke she ran over to them crying.

"Hiei, I'm sorry…they took Suichi, I couldn't do anything to stop them. I'm sorry," said the ferry girl tearfully.

Yusuke put a comforting arm around her, "its okay, we know you a non-fighter. There wasn't anything you could do, we don't blame you."

Hiei didn't say anything he just walked to the room that Kurama had been staying in and looked inside, he couldn't believe it. He had let Karasu get his hands on Kurama.

'_Don't worry, I'll stand guard. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise.' _Hiei punched the wall, startling Botan and Yusuke, "DAMMNIT!"

"I'm too late…" murmured a voice from the door.

Yusuke and Botan looked over at the door to see Koenma. The young prince looked worried and angered.

"Koenma?" said Yusuke confused to why the prince would be in Living World.

Koenma walked inside, "I had come to warn you that Matsura had escaped from Spirit World jail, but it seems that I am too late. I'm sorry."

"Jeez, what is it with you guys and apologizing? It's not like it's actually your fault!" exclaimed Yusuke sounding ticked off, "Just tell us where the hell Karasu is and we'll go kick his ass! Right, Hiei?" Yusuke waited for his friend to reply, "Right, Hiei?" Yusuke paused again, then turned to see why his friend wasn't responding, "Hiei?"

Hiei was starring at the wall he had put a hole through, Yusuke walked over to him, "Hiei? Hey, man, are you okay?" Yusuke caught a glimpse of Hiei's eyes and stepped back, "What the hell?"

Both Botan and Koenma looked at Yusuke, but it was Koenma who asked the question, "What's going on?"

"I don't know," replied Yusuke slowly, "His eyes are blank."

"What?"

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"_Poor Hiei, you really thought you could save him from me, didn't you? You thought that if you turned him human I wouldn't be able to find him. You'll soon find out that you were dead wrong," the crow's voice was light, but still held danger._

"_This is a dream. You have no place in reality," I said still holding onto Suichi's limp body._

"_You'll soon find out that you're wrong there as well," Karasu smirked, "You'll also find out that I can affect more then one person. My powers over the mind are even greater then those of the Jagon."_

_Suichi's body disappeared from my arms along with Matsura, it was just Karasu and me now._

"_I could kill you now with out even lifting a finger, fire brat," stated Karasu._

_I stood, "I'd like to see you try."_

_Karasu disappeared, "So careless, you can't even follow my movements."_

_His voice came from behind me, I turned and moved away. Karasu smirked set off one of his invisible bombs near my right shoulder, leaving a shallow cut. Then he set off another one near my face leaving a scratch. I glared at him; I knew he was just toying with me._

"_I know what you're doing," I stated drawing my sword._

"_Oh, you do?" asked Karasu lightly, setting off more bombs causing more small cuts._

"_You're trying to psych me out; I know that you can't actually hurt me here. You're just wasting time," I answered ready to get out of this battle of minds._

_Karasu gave a knowing smile, "Is that what I'm doing? You'd be surprised." He set off a bomb at my stomach causing a deep gash, and me to loose my breath. "That might be fatal; you should get it fixed before you try to get your dear fox back."_

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Hiei fell against the wall, his arms and stomach were bleeding, the cuts had appeared out of nowhere. Yusuke moved to catch his friend, he laid Hiei onto his back, that's when they all saw the stomach wound.

"How did he get that?" asked Botan sounding worried.

"I dunno, but he needs to be healed, do you think you're up to it or do I need to get Yukina?" asked Yusuke looking at Botan.

"I can do it," said Botan confidentially, she kneeled next to Hiei and put her hands over his stomach and focused her powers. _'I hope this works.'_ She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, healing Hiei's stomach.

Hiei's eyes opened and he tried to sit-up, but Yusuke stopped him, "Woah, slow down man. How did you get that stomach wound?"

Hiei looked at Yusuke confused for a moment, before his face went blank and he looked down, "Dammnit, he wasn't lying."

Yusuke cocked an eyebrow, "Who wasn't lying?"

"Karasu, apparently he isn't a Quest Class, no Quest Class could inflict actual wounds in a battle of minds," stated Hiei to the floor.

"What? Then what the heck is he, part of the Math Class?" asked Yusuke.

"No, he's part of an elite class," explained Koenma, "Karasu is apparently part of the Onuris Class."

"What the hell does that mean?" Yusuke was getting annoyed that no one was actually explaining what was going on.

"Basically, he can harm his opponents without even touching them," said Koenma.

"Couldn't he do that before?" asked Yusuke glaring at the young prince.

"Yes, but now he can enter someone's mind and…uh…how do I explain this without confusing you," replied Koenma thinking.

"Think about it like this, Karasu is like Freddie Kruger from those American horror movies," suggested Botan. Koenma gave Botan a weird look, she just shrugged.

"Oh, okay, that makes total sense now," said Yusuke.

Hiei looked up at Koenma, "So where is Karasu hiding?"

"In demon world, he's using his father's old house as a base," replied Koenma.

Yusuke stood, "And where is that?"

"Oh!" Botan pulled out the coordinates that Koenma had givin' her earlier that day, "I have it right here."

Hiei held his hand out for that piece of paper, and Botan handed it over to him. Yusuke looked out Hiei's shoulder, trying to figure out what the paper said.

"So do you know where it is?" asked Yusuke.

Hiei stood, "Yeah…"

Yusuke gave a demonic smile, "Good, now let's go kick Karasu's ass!"

Hiei nodded, and turned to leave followed by Yusuke, but someone stopped them.

"Don't tell me that your going without a plan, you can't just go in there blindly, Karasu will kill you both," Azriel stood in front of the door not letting Hiei or Yusuke leave.

Yusuke glared at him, "What the hell do you want from us?"

"I want Karasu dead, but you can't do that if your getting hot headed and not thinking strategically," snapped Azriel.

"You know what? That's Kurama's job," retorted Yusuke angrily.

"Exactly! You two depend on him for tact and strategy way too often, it's time for you to think for yourselves and come up with a plan," said Azriel becoming annoyed.

Yusuke was about to respond when Hiei cut across him, "We don't have time to sit and strategize, Azriel. Why don't you just sit back and watch and say 'I told you so,' if we get captured." Hiei pushed passed Azriel and left, followed by Yusuke.

Azriel watched them leave, _'I hope they know what they're doing…'_


	14. Chapter 14

Suichi opened his eyes; he didn't know where he was. It was dark, he tried to move, but his arms were changed to a wall, it was then he remembered what had happened. He knew that the word was still attached to him, he could feel its constraining powers, he felt the same way he had when Gama had placed the make-up of the seal on him during the Dark Tournament.

Suichi took a deep breath, wondering how he was going to get himself out of this situation; he didn't like the thought of himself being vulnerable where Karasu was concerned. He couldn't use his powers or his arms so he was basically helpless.

'_**Do you think that Hiei will come?'** 'Of course, why wouldn't he?' **'Do you think he even knows?' **'Of course he knows, Koenma would have found out by know, he's probably already sent Yusuke and Hiei to find me.' **'Is that the only reason that Hiei will come for you, because Koenma has sent him?' **'No! He's my friend, he would save me even is Koenma hadn't ordered it.' ** 'How can you be so sure? Hiei always says that he doesn't have any friends, and that he cares for no one. How can you be sure that Hiei cares for you?'**_

Suichi closed his eyes and shook his head, "I am not having this argument with myself, again."

"What makes you so sure you're arguing with yourself, my dear kitsune?" asked a voice.

Suichi looked up, "Karasu."

The crow smiled and walked closer to Suichi, "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you yet…"

Suichi glared at Karasu, "I'm not afraid of you, your going to be dead soon."

"How can you be so sure? You can't kill me, you can't even reach your powers," replied Karasu kneeling in front of Suichi and tracing a finger along his cheek.

"Hiei will come for me, and he'll kill you," snapped Suichi trying to move away from Karasu.

Karasu moved even closer and whispered into Suichi's ear, "I count on it, so I can kill him and break your spirit, I have no need for you. It's Kurama I want; you and Yoko are minor inconveniences. I'm sure that's how Hiei feels as well, he's not coming for you Suichi, he's coming for Kurama."

Suichi's eyes glowed amber, "If you're trying to get me to loose confidence in Hiei or get me to despair, your wasting your time. We're one person really; Azriel just let me separate myself from my weaker and more emotional side until you die."

Karasu moved back and stood up, "Who are you?"

**Chapter 14**

Hiei and Yusuke stood on an out cropping about a mile away from where Karasu's hideout was. They could both see it from where they were standing. It was a large mansion with at least four floors, surrounded by a village the seemed deserted now.

"You ready to do this?" asked Yusuke.

"You need to ask?" replied Hiei.

Yusuke smirked and they both jumped down from the out cropping into the forest. They made their way through the forest and into the village, they were right about assuming it was abandoned. The houses had been completely burned out.

"Looks like someone was half-assing when they tried to burn the village down," stated Yusuke.

"Actually, we decided to kill the villagers but keep the houses, to foreshadow your fates," said a voice.

Hiei and Yusuke looked at who had spoken. It was Matsura; she was sitting on top of one of the houses. Yusuke picked up his spirit gun and shot a small blast at her causing the house to collapse. Matsura was fine, however, she had anticipated the attack and dodged landing on the path leading up to the mansion.

Yusuke looked over at Hiei, "You go; I'll take care of this bitch."

Hiei nodded and without even saying a word disappeared, Matsura made no move to stop him, she just focused on Yusuke.

"You really think you can beat me?" she asked picked a fighting stance, "Don't you have any qualms about hitting a girl?"

"Non-fighters yes, but you're a fighter, so it's fair," replied Yusuke, "And I won't go easy."

"How noble," stated Matsura, "You make me sick." She disappeared and reappeared above him creating an explosion beneath his feet, then she landed behind the pillar of smoke.

"Is that all you got?" asked Yusuke from his perch on top of one of the burnt out houses, "Because if it is, this fight won't last long."

Matsura glared at Yusuke, "You'll see! I'm just getting warmed up!"

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Hiei reached the mansion without any interference from anything, demons, traps, or otherwise.

'_This is too easy,' _he thought looking around; he looked at the front door, then up at the higher levels.

The second level had a large window with a balcony. He jumped up to the balcony and broke the window with his powers so he wouldn't make too much noise. He didn't want to alert Karasu to his presence, if he hadn't sensed him already.

Hiei entered the mansion through the window; he had no clue where he was or where Kurama was at this point. But his Jagon would fix that in seconds. Hiei opened his Jagon and started to search the house for Kurama, but as he passed below the ground floor, something resonated causing him to loose control for a second and ricocheting his power back at him.

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Yusuke jumped back as Matsura shot fire balls at him, he was constrained to defensive since Matsura hardly let up with her long distance attacks. Yusuke needed more then a few seconds to gather the energy needed to fight his spirit gun and that was really his only long range attack.

"I thought you said you could beat me, Yusuke!" mused Matsura unleashing more fire balls, forcing Yusuke to jump onto another house, "You can't win by just running away!"

'_I know that, dammnit!' _thought Yusuke dodging more fire balls.

Matsura chuckled and disappeared, catching Yusuke from behind and holding him close to her body, "I might want to keep you, spirit detective."

Yusuke broke away, "Sorry, I'm engaged!" He turned and punched Matsura in the face, knocking her off the rooftop.

Matsura flipped in the air and landed on her feet, glaring up at Yusuke. She caused the house and everyone around it to explode, forcing Yusuke to move to the ground. Matsura surrounded them in flames, so there was no escape.

"These flames won't die until I do," stated Matsura, "You cannot leave until you have killed me."

"Fine with me," replied Yusuke releasing some of his spiritual energy and regaining his demon energy back. He had figured out that Spiritual energy did more damage to demons.

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Suichi took a deep breath and continued to think about how he could escape his prison without using his demonic or spiritual powers. Karasu had long since left, leaving Suichi alone to strategize in peace. Suichi stared up at the ceiling; his arms were starting to hurt from being chained up at weird angle. He tried moving them but they were held tightly against the wall, he could barely move one hand to touch the other's wrist.

Suichi let out a light gasp, "I got it!"

He moved his left arm slightly so he could unhook the safety pin on the cuff of his shirt. He brought it up to the lock on his left wrist and picked the lock. Suichi winced when he moved his right hand in a weird position causing the chain on his right arm to cut into his skin.

After a few minutes of trying to pick the lock, Suichi heard the lock click. His left arm was free, he switch the safety pin over to his left hand and moved so he could free his right arm. This took less time because he could actually see what he was doing.

"And my mother said that this trick would only be useful when I forgot my key," stated Suichi to himself. He had forgotten his keys to his house the few times he was going to be late to school and had been forced to pick the lock on his front door. He was surprised when he had been able to do it fairly easily the first time.

Soon both of Suichi's arms were free and he could stand. He hooked the safety pin back to his shirt cuff and walked over to the bars of his prison. Suichi reached out to touch the cell door and felt an electric shock surge through his entire body making it go numb for a few minutes.

Suichi fell to his knees, "Oww…Damn," he looked back up at the bars, "He's just prepared for everything, isn't he?"

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Hiei winced and his head started to throb from the attack on his mind, _'Well at least I know that Kurama is down there.'_

Hiei closed his Jagon and left the room he had broken into. When he left the room he noticed that the rest of the house was a lot darker when you didn't have windows. It was nearly pitch black, so Hiei could hardly see which forced him to reopen his Jagon, something he didn't particularly want to do.

When his Jagon was open it was too easy for someone to challenge his mind and he did not want to give Karasu any upper hand.

'_It's probably why he has no lights, so he can have the advantage,' _thought Hiei as he walked down the hall.

Hiei found the stairs leading to the first level pretty easily. It didn't look like Karasu has set any traps at all, but Hiei wasn't about to underestimate his opponent. Karasu wasn't the type to fight someone face to face if he could avoid it. The fact that he fought Kurama in games of the mind more then actual fighting in the Dark Tournament proved it.

Hiei winced again as his power resonated in his head again, there was some barrier around the house that caused him to loose control of his Jagon for certain moments. Hiei stopped, he could risk himself loosing complete control of his Jagon or travel through Karasu's house half-blind, neither were appealing.

'_I would rather be blind then loose control of my powers to Karasu,' _decided Hiei closing his Jagon, but just before he did his power surged again, ricocheting back at him causing him to loose consciousness.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Hiei, wake up! Your going to make us late for school!"

'_What?' _Hiei woke up to see a very angry Yukina looking down at him. He couldn't comprehend what she was talking about. _'School?'_

"Finally, you awake!" stated Yukina turning to leave, "Mom says you've got ten minutes to get ready."

Hiei sat up starring at Yukina shocked and confused, "Mom?"

Yukina turned and regarded him with a weird look, "Yeah, mom…remember the woman who gave birth to us. She wants you downstairs in ten minutes," Yukina turned and walk out of Hiei's room muttering something about him getting hit on the head way too many times.

Hiei shook his head and got out of bed, a few minutes he walked down stairs dressed, but still a little confused. He walked into the kitchen, Yukina was leaning on the kitchen island talking to their mother who was cleaning dishes. Hina turned when she heard the door open and smiled at her son.

"Late start this morning?" she asked smiling.

Hiei nodded, "Uh, yeah…"

Hina chuckled lightly and went back to washing dishes, "You two better go you don't want to be late."

"Late?" murmured Hiei not believing that any of this was real.

Yukina gave him a 'that was a dumb question' look, "School dummy!" She turned back to their mother, "Mom, I don't think that Hiei should be in the martial arts anymore it's made his brain stupid."

"My brain is not stupid! I get better grades then you do," retorted Hiei.

"Sure, sure," replied Yukina smiling and walking towards the door.

When she passed him, Yukina pressed Hiei's bag into his chest and grabbed his collar, basically dragging him out of the kitchen. Hiei freed himself in the living room and followed his sister out of the house and down the street. After a few blocks of walking in silence someone called to them. Hiei looked up from the ground and saw Yusuke, Keiko, Kuwabara, and Suichi standing at the street corner.

"Hey, guys!" called Yusuke waving, "You're late!"

"I know! Hiei decided that he wanted to sleep in this morning," replied Yukina.

When Yukina and Hiei reached the group, Kuwabara put his arm around Yukina and they took the lead of the group followed by Keiko and Yusuke, then Hiei and Suichi. Yusuke looked back at Hiei.

"So how come you didn't wake up on time today?" he asked.

"I dunno," answered Hiei, then he said quietly, "I was having a weird dream this morning though."

"You too?" asked Suichi quietly so the rest of the group couldn't hear.

"Huh?" Hiei looked up at Suichi not knowing that he had heard what he had just said.

Suichi smiled, "The weird dream thing. I had a weird dream this morning too."

"What was it about?" asked Hiei curious if Suichi had had the same dream.

"Well, I dreamed that I was going to have waffles this morning and I did," answered Suichi still smiling.

Yusuke turned around and started to walk backwards, "Is that all you think about, Suichi?"

Suichi chuckled, "Maybe…"

Yusuke snorted and turned around and started to talk to his girlfriend. Suichi looked over at Hiei, "So what was your weird dream about?"

"Well, it wasn't about waffles, if that's what you're asking," replied Hiei looking away, half-wishing he hadn't said anything.

Suichi looked at him concerned, "Oh, Hiei…I didn't mean to make you angry."

"I know, don't worry about it. It's nothing, just some dream. It wasn't even real," stated Hiei.

_Hiei!_

Hiei's eyes widened, and he looked around, "Did you hear that?"

Suichi tilted his head, confused, "Hear what?"

Hiei shook his head and looked at the ground, "Nothing…never mind."

"Hiei, are you okay?" asked Suichi getting worried about his friend, "Your not sick are you? Because if you are you shouldn't be going to school."

"I fine, really," replied Hiei giving Suichi a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it."

Suichi wasn't convinced but he didn't want to press his friend, "Okay…"

The group reached school grounds about ten minutes before the first bell rang. They waved goodbye to at the gate Yukina and Keiko who went to the all girls school next door. Hiei and Yusuke shared the same class (2-B) while Kuwabara and Suichi were next door in 2-C.

The school bell rang ten minutes later signaling the start of classes, and everyone took their seats. Hiei starred at the blackboard, his eyes unfocused, and not listening to the teacher's lecture. He started to think about the dream he had had that morning. As morning had gone on he remember less and less of it, proving that it was just a dream and nothing important.

About an hour into the teacher's lecture and note fell on Hiei's desk, startling him out of his trance. He looked down at it then up at the teacher, who was too busy with his lecture to really pay attention to what the class was doing. Hiei picked up the note and unfolded it.

_Suichi asked me to tell you that he wanted to talk to you after school alone. I don't know why he can't just tell you himself, but what-ever. I'm just passing it on._

_-- Yusuke_

Hiei cocked an eyebrow at the note, it was a little odd that Suichi hadn't just asked to talk to him after school. What could Suichi want to say that he couldn't just say in front of the whole group this morning? Hiei folded up the note and stuck it in his back pocket, forgetting about his dream for the moment and wondering what Suichi wanted to say.

The rest of the school day passed quickly. Hiei met up with Suichi after classes let out, his mind was torn between thinking about his dream and what Suichi was going to say. Suichi lead him away from the crowd around to the back of the school building.

_Hiei!_

Hiei glanced behind him wondering who was calling to him, he figured that he was hearing things or something. He turned his attention back to Suichi, wondering what the red head was going to say to him.

Suichi took at deep breath wondering how to start, "Um, Hiei…there's something that I've wanted to tell you for a while, but I could never get up the courage to say anything." Suichi paused and looked at the ground, "I…uh…I--"

Hiei looked at Suichi confused for a moment, "What are you trying to say?"

Suichi looked up and Hiei, swallowing hard he walked closer to him. "Hiei, I--" Suichi cut himself off shaking his head and closing his eyes, he just couldn't do it. He didn't want Hiei to hate him.

Hiei suddenly realized what Suichi was trying to say, "Suichi."

Suichi opened his eyes and looked into Hiei's, Hiei smiled and moved to kiss him. Suichi's eyes widened for a moment before they slowly closed, as Hiei lips met his. Suichi wrapped his arms around Hiei, he had wanted this for so long.

_Hiei!_

Hiei suddenly broke the kiss, and backed away from Suichi, looking confused.

Suichi looked hurt, "Hiei? I thought--"

Hiei cut him off, "Something's wrong."

"What?" Suichi looked scared and hurt, "Nothing's wrong. Hiei, I love you…and now I know that you do too. There isn't anything wrong with that."

"No, that's not it," replied Hiei looking at the ground, trying to figure out what was going on.

Suichi walked closer to him, "Then what is it?"

_Hiei!_

Hiei looked up at Suichi, "The dream I had this morning. I can remember it so clearly now, it's weird."

"Well, most dreams are, but I don't understand what it has to do with anything," replied Suichi sounding confused.

"Suichi, I dreamed that we were fighting against demons and that you almost died, but I got Koenma to suppress your memories and powers to save your life," started Hiei.

"What? Hiei, I think your sister's right about the martial arts club, you should stop going. You've been hit in the head one to many times. There is no such thing as demons and there's no way you could have talked to Koenma," interrupted Suichi looking worried.

_Hiei!_

"No, I'm fine. Suichi, this life is to perfect. My mother isn't alive she died along time ago and Yukina doesn't know that I am her brother, because I refuse to tell her," continued Hiei.

Suichi looked as if he was about to cry, "Hiei, what are you saying?"

_Wake up!_

Hiei stared into Suichi's dark green eyes, "Suichi, I don't think that any of this is--"

Suichi flung his arms around Hiei, "No! Don't say it…if you don't you can stay here. You won't have to leave and we can live together and be happy, without having to worry about anything."

Hiei bit his lip, to tell the truth he didn't want to leave. He liked this life better then the other one he had seen, but he knew that this wasn't real and that there was no way he could say here in this dream world. Hiei closed his eyes as Suichi tightened his grip not wanting Hiei to leave.

_Hiei!_

"Suichi, I'm sorry," murmured Hiei.

Tears traced their way down Suichi's face, "Please…don't."

_Hiei, wake up!_

"Suichi, this isn't real," said Hiei almost loosing his composure.

"No!" cried Suichi as he faded away.

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Hiei woke up, he was flat on his back on a dusty floor. Yusuke was hovering above him looking worried. Hiei felt his forehead, his Jagon was closed and he was going to keep it that way. He almost didn't leave the dream world that Karasu had created.

"Hiei, what happened?" asked Yusuke as Hiei sat up.

"Karasu got into my head and created a dream world, that I almost didn't escape from," answered Hiei angry with himself for being so careless.

Yusuke didn't reply not wanting to make his friend even more upset. Hiei stood and looked at Yusuke, who stood as well.

"What happened to Matsura?" asked Hiei shifting the subject away from himself.

Yusuke shrugged, it was then that Hiei noticed that he was hurt, "She pulled some dirty tricks by shifting into my friends and Keiko, but eventually I over powered her and she ran off. I don't think she'll be coming back though, I saw the SDF go after her. I think Enma sent them, because she escaped from spirit world jail."

"Or it could be because he doesn't trust that sort of thing to demons," replied Hiei.

"Could be, either way she won't be bothering us anymore, so we can kill Karasu without interference," said Yusuke in his usual cocky manner.

"Hn." Hiei looked at the set of stairs that lead down to the basement, wondering what would have happened if he had stayed in the dream world.


	16. Chapter 16

Karasu stood near Suichi's cell with his eyes closed. Hiei had left his perfect world, much to Karasu's surprise. No one had ever done that before, they had died while still dreaming. It was the perfect death, the perfect irony.

Karasu opened his eyes, _'You should have stayed in your own little world Hiei, then you could have had a happy and painless death. But you chose the cold real world, so I'll take great pleasure and delivering to your, your wish of a painful end to your existence.'_

**Chapter 16**

Yusuke and Hiei walked down the steps into the growing darkness. It was extremely difficult to see anything, so they didn't know how far down they were going.

"Well, this forcibly reminds me of a horror movie," stated Yusuke trying to see if they were even close to reaching the bottom.

Hiei didn't respond, he held his hand out in front of them and summoned a small ball of flames to light their way. Now they could see that the stairs basically stretched on forever.

"Dammnit, well we're going into the bowls of hell," said Yusuke staring down the stairs.

"Come on," replied Hiei continuing down the stairs, with Yusuke behind him.

Eventually they reached the bottom of the stairs and Hiei lit the torches on the wall. They were in a long hallway made out of brick.

"I feel like I'm in a crypt," stated Yusuke giving an involuntary shiver.

"Probably because that's what it is," replied Hiei gesturing to the walls.

Yusuke looked at the walls that surrounded them. On either wall there were metal doors with numbers on them, they were marking every demon buried into the walls. Underneath the numbers was the demon's class ranking and a time, they could only assume that it was the time it took for the demon to die. You could still smell the rotting flesh from the decayed demons. Yusuke couldn't decide if these demons were buried alive or just after they were killed.

Hiei and Yusuke continued down the hall, Hiei stopped looking at the walls not wanting to know how many dead demons were down there. Yusuke, however, couldn't bring himself to look away he said every number in his mind as he saw it.

At the end of the corridor, the hall spilt in half going to different ways. The path to the left continued the count of dead demons, while the path to the right didn't. The walls along the hall to the right were completely blank.

"Which way?" asked Yusuke hoping Hiei was going to say right.

Yusuke's hopes fell short, as Hiei pointed left. Yusuke sighed, why couldn't paths that lead to danger be pretty? It was bad enough you knew that you could join the ranks of demons buried into the walls, then have to see how many there actually was.

They continued down the hallway, Yusuke continued to read the metal doors, he noticed the higher the numbers got the high classes the demon who had been kill were, the times stayed about the same. After passing dead demon 1352 they could both sense Karasu's energy. Yusuke became worried when he couldn't sense Kurama's as well.

"Hiei, do you sense Kurama?" asked Yusuke hoping that his spiritual awareness wasn't working right or something.

"I do, but it's faint. Either he's been seriously injured or there's a ward on his powers," answered Hiei quietly, "We'll hope the latter."

"Yeah," murmured Yusuke looking back at the walls.

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Suichi stood a few inches away from the bars of his cell; he could sense Hiei and Yusuke's energy. He knew that they were coming to help him out. Suichi glanced over at Karasu who was leaning against the wall near his cell. Did he know that they were coming? If he did he made no sign of preparation for the battle that would inevitably come.

Karasu opened his eyes and Suichi looked away, down the hall. He couldn't see far down it and wondered if there were any traps set for his friends.

Karasu smirked, "You do not need to fear for your friend's lives, yet. I have set no traps, for I wish to kill them personally."

'_So he does know that they are coming,' _thought Suichi.

Karasu looked down the hall as Hiei's energy disappeared, Suichi felt it too. He looked over at Karasu noticing the slightly concerned look on the crow demon's face. Suichi smiled demonically, his amber eyes glowing in the darkness. It was almost time.

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Yusuke had a slight heart attack when he felt his friend's energy disappear; he looked back at Hiei to make sure he was okay, that nothing had happened. He was surprised to see Hiei's aura radiating around him.

Hiei gave a slight chuckle at the obvious sign of confusion on the detective's face. "I am manipulating my energy so you can see it, but not sense it," answered to Yusuke's unasked question.

Yusuke nodded as if he understood, while he really had no clue what Hiei was talking about. It didn't matter to him really, as long as his friend hadn't lost his energy. Yusuke wasn't sure if he could beat Karasu without Hiei's help.

They stopped when they saw someone standing in the middle of the hallway up a head. They both knew it wasn't Karasu for the difference of energy signal, but they didn't know if it was a demon set to kill them or not.

"Relax, I'm here to help," said Azriel walking into the light with his hands up.

"Why did you come here?" asked Yusuke confused to why Azriel decided to help them fight against his own brother.

"Because you didn't come up with a plan, and the last thing I need is for the one person that could probably kill Karasu for good, to get himself killed by stupidity. So I've come with a plan and I suggest that you take it," answered Azriel with his arms crossed.

"Fine, explain it quickly, we can't afford to waste anymore time," replied Hiei.

Yusuke looked down the hall as he felt Karasu's energy flare out. He knew that the crow demon was just around the next corner. Out of the corner of his eye Yusuke saw Hiei vanish, the final show down was about to start.

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Yusuke ran down the hall making enough noise to draw Karasu's attention away from Hiei coming from the other side. Yusuke stopped running when the crow demon was in sight. He smirked and flared his demonic energy coupled with his spiritual energy as a form of intimidation.

Karasu started to clap sarcastically, "Good job, Spirit Detective. You have managed to defeat my sister and find me at the end of the labyrinth." He stopped, "but don't think that you can intimidate me with your powers, even your spiritual and demonic energies combined don't even come close to my power."

"Really," stated Yusuke not believing Karasu in the slightest, "If you can beat me, then why couldn't you beat Toguro at 35? It just doesn't make sense, I beat Toguro when he was better then his best, but you couldn't be him when he was half-assing. Then you go and say my power doesn't even compare to yours? You're a bad liar."

Karasu's eye flashed red and part of the wall behind him exploded out, leaving a large hole. Yusuke chuckled, he couldn't believe it was that easy to get underneath Karasu's skin and make him angry.

"I guess hit a cord, saying how much stronger Toguro was then you, pisses you off that much, huh?" asked Yusuke, noticing Suichi locked in a cell near to where Karasu was standing.

Karasu chuckled darkly, "Ahh, but you've missed the key word, dear detective. Was, is in the past, and has nothing to do with the present." Karasu disappeared while causing part of Yusuke's shoulder to explode, nearly taking his arm off.

Yusuke's eyes widened as the pain spread through his body, bringing him to his knees. He couldn't feel his fingers on his right hand, he looked at his arm, it was still there but it was now covered in blood, his own blood. Yusuke shook his head, standing and looking around for where Karasu had disappeared to.

Yusuke didn't see Karasu, nor did he see his next attack. His breath was pushed out of his body as a bomb collided with his back and stomach at the same time. Yusuke fell to his knees again; he had never felt this kind of pain before, was this how Kurama has felt during his fight with Karasu in the Dark Tournament?

Karasu appeared in front of Yusuke, "What's the matted detective? You can't handle these small attacks? What happened the cockiness I so greatly admired?" Karasu kicked Yusuke in his stomach, causing him to fly back into a wall.

Karasu followed and lifted Yusuke off his feet, pushing him against the wall, "Come on, Detective, why don't you fight back?" He shot another bomb into Yusuke's stomach.

Yusuke coughed blood, his vision becoming blurred. He clenched his left hand into a fist, "Shot…gun!"

The barrage of spirit gun bullets hit Karasu before he had a chance to dodge, he was blasted back. Yusuke slid down the wall, using it for support. Yusuke readied himself for another attack, wondering where the hell Hiei was.

Karasu glared at him, his eyes flashing red, "So the pup does have some bite still."

Suichi watched the fight between Yusuke and Karasu, wishing he could help and wondering where Hiei was. _'Why isn't he helping Yusuke?' _Suichi looked around wondering if Hiei was hiding somewhere waiting for some cue or sign that Yusuke needed his help or wanted his help. He couldn't feel the fire demon's energy at all; he had thought that Hiei had hid it, but what if… _'Did something happen to him?'_

Suichi stepped back as Yusuke got blasted into the bars of his cell and shocked by the energy current running through them. Yusuke fell to the ground, bleeding heavily. Suichi could feel his spirit fading; Yusuke was going to die if someone didn't help him now.

Suichi tried to summon a plant to break him out of his prison, but he received a huge electric shock along with the rebound of his own power. He had forgotten about the ward. Suichi fell to his knees as Karasu advanced on Yusuke planning to finish the young spirit detective off. Suichi tried to stand, casing his mind for anything he could do to help his friend.

Karasu looked past Yusuke and directly into Suichi's eyes, "Let this stand as an example for what will happen to anyone who tries to take you from me."

Suichi felt fear spread through his body; he didn't know what to do. Where was Hiei? Why wasn't he there to save the day? Suichi looked down trying to figure out something he could say or do to stop this.

"Farewell, Spirit Detective," said Karasu softly.

"_Spirit gun!"_

The blast hit Karasu square in the back causing him to fall to his knees, "What the…" He turned to see Yusuke standing behind him completely unharmed and smirking. He looked at the injured Spirit Detective in front of him.

"Come now, dear brother. Don't say you don't recognize me," murmured Azriel and he reverted to his real form and stood. He was still injured but it wasn't as fatal as he was pretending it was.

Karasu stood as well, his eyes flashing red, "I should have known that you wouldn't just stay put, you always have to get in my way, Azriel." There was a small explosion near Azriel's face creating a small scratch across his cheek.

Azriel responded with by shooting an energy ball at Karasu, blasting him back into the opposing wall. Azriel kept Karasu away from Suichi's cell, so Yusuke could break the lock on the door.

"Step back, Suichi," said Yusuke aiming his Spirit Gun at the lock. Suichi did what his was told and Yusuke unleashed his attack, the cell door swung open and Suichi escaped, just as Azriel was blasted into the far wall.

Azriel's unconscious body slid down the wall, leaned limply against it. A trail of blood trickled from the back of his head, he had already lost a lot of blood and now he was going to loose more. Suddenly, Azriel coughed and opened his eyes, he wasn't quite out yet.

Karasu threw another bomb at his brother; Azriel was able to raise a weak shield to divert most of the attack. Karasu walked closer to his brother, his eyes now glowing red. He threw more bombs at Azriel, who no longer had the energy to defend himself.

"I'm going to kill you, like I should have done ten years ago," stated Karasu.

"That's just fine, I'll see you in hell, you bastard," retorted Azriel starring directly into Karasu's red eyes.

"_Fist…of…the…Mortal FLAME_!"

Karasu moved just in time to avoid the attack, Azriel, however, caught the entire force of Hiei's attack. He died instantly. Karasu turned to send a return attack at Hiei, but didn't see the fire demon anywhere. He only saw Yusuke and Suichi.

"Fine, I'll kill the detective first," muttered Karasu focusing his powers on Yusuke, _"Trace eye bombs…"_

Yusuke moved to avoid the set of bombs flying at him forgetting that they would follow him and catching the brunt of the attack in the back. Yusuke winced, and shook off the pain, returning at Spirit Gun at Karasu, who dodged the attack easily and disappeared.

"Dammnit!" cursed Yusuke trying to figure out where Karasu disappeared to; he couldn't sense the crow demon's energy.

Karasu appeared behind Yusuke touching his shoulder blade, rendering his right arm useless. Yusuke moved away from Karasu could mount another attack.

Karasu smirked, "Now doesn't this look familiar, Kurama?"

Suichi looked at Yusuke; memories of his fight with Karasu during the Dark Tournament flew through his mind. He shook his head, he couldn't let Karasu get into his head again, he had already let it happen twice. Suichi glared at Karasu, "I'm not afraid of you and I won't let you control me."

"Stop fooling yourself, Kurama. I know you're deathly frightened of me, that is one of the things that makes you irresistible," replied Karasu giving a dark chuckle.

The ward on Suichi's back burned away; he could now feel his power surge through him, "I am not afraid of you!" He launched himself at Karasu summoning his leaf-blade.

"Fool," murmured Karasu as Suichi's blade exploded.

Suichi didn't stop despite the fact he had no weapon. Sliver streaks shot through his blood red hair, as he rammed into Karasu, pushing him up against a wall, his hand enclosed around the crow demons throat. Suichi's glowed amber as his hair become more silver then red.

"Earlier you asked me who I was, Karasu," started Suichi as vines shot out from his hair and curved around so the sharp tips were poised to hit Karasu's vital points. Suichi's hair became longer and sliver as he slowly turned into Yoko. He smirked, "I'm Yoko, de-clawed." The transformation finished and the vines shot forward pinning Karasu to the wall.

"Damn you," gasped Karasu, glaring at Yoko, "You have no business in this fight, just like you had no business in the previous one. This fight is between me and Kurama."

Yoko's amber eyes narrowed as his claws dug into Karasu's throat, tempted to rip it out, "There's something you should know about a merger, Karasu. We are one, I am Kurama."

"You lie, you--" Karasu stopped as Yoko completely cut off his ability to talk.

"_Dragon…of…the…"_

Yoko let go of Karasu's throat, "Go to hell…"

"_DARKNESS FLAME!"_

Yoko moved out of the way of Hiei's attack, it hit Karasu with full force. There would be no way he could live through that attack. When the smoke cleared the only thing left of Karasu was the burnt cinder of his outline.

Yoko returned to the form of Suichi as Azriel's spell faded away, proving that Karasu was dead for good. Suichi started to fall, but Hiei caught him before he hit the ground and lowered him down gently. Suichi looked up at Hiei and smiled weakly, "He's gone; you and Kurama can be together now."

Hiei looked into Suichi's eyes, "Suichi, I--" his voice broke.

"This is what you want isn't it? You love Kurama don't you?" asked Suichi.

"I do, but Suichi…I love you too," replied Hiei quietly.

Suichi chuckled lightly, "Remember what Yoko said, we are one. I'm not leaving you, this isn't goodbye."

'_Then why does it feel like it?'_ thought Hiei, feeling his chest clench in sadness.

Suichi smiled and took Hiei's hand, lifting his body up so their lips would meet in a passionate kiss. Suichi broke the kiss and laid back down loosing consciousness. His eyes closed and he blacked out.


	17. Chapter 17

It had been a week; Kurama stared just past the teacher, who was taking attendance, and at the black board. Characteristic to all spirit world cases, normal life became pale in comparison. Kurama knew that he should be glad that things were back to --

"Jagashi, Hiei…"

"Present."

Well, as normal as things could get…Kurama glanced back at his friend. Hiei was leaning back in his chair and looking out the window. Kurama heard his name called, and he turned to face the front, while telling the teacher that he was present.

Hiei glanced up the row to where Kurama was sitting; he knew that Kurama had been looking at him after his name was called. Hiei had purposefully avoided looking back, for the same reason why he had not spoken to the fox; he wasn't sure about where they stood anymore. Hiei couldn't decide if they were friends or…something more.

**Chapter 17**

The bell rang signaling the end of classes; Kurama stood and gathered his things. He glanced back at Hiei, but the raven haired demon had already disappeared. Kurama huffed a short sigh and left the classroom. _'He could at least talk to me…'_

Kurama exited the school building and saw Yusuke standing at the entrance waiting for him. He walked over to the young spirit detective wondering why he was there.

"Hello, Yusuke," said Kurama with a small smile.

"Hey," replied Yusuke, "Koenma said he wants to talk to us."

"Well…Hiei isn't here and I have no clue where he went," stated Kurama, sounding a bit surprised that Koenma wanted to speak to them so soon after their encounter with Karasu. The young prince couldn't have another mission for them already, could he?

"Actually, Koenma just wants to speak to you and me," explained Yusuke.

Kurama gave Yusuke a quizzical look, and Yusuke just shrugged. What did the young prince want?

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Yusuke and Kurama entered Koenma's office a few minutes later. They weren't surprised to see Koenma in his teenage form; he seemed to be taking it more and more lately. They sat down in the two chairs that were in front of Koenma's desk and waited for him to start talking.

"I thought that you both might want to know that Yomi and Makuro are on our side and are helping to restore order to demon world until the next tournament can be planned. This should take away stress from all of us, and will help you go back to your previously close normal lives," started Koenma sounding rather pleased.

"Well, that's nice. Now Keiko can actually start planning the wedding for after we graduate this year," stated Yusuke trying to pass it off as nothing, but both Kurama and Koenma new the spirit detective was nervous.

"The other thing I wanted to say is to you Kurama. I wanted to apologize for erasing your memories and basically forcing you to go through this whole ordeal. I really had no other choice, but still…after seeing what happened, I feel like I owe you something," stated Koenma.

Kurama gave the prince a slight smile, "Don't worry, Hiei explained everything to me. Including how he threatened to kill you if you didn't do what you could, and that was the only thing you could do. And who knows, maybe if you hadn't erased my memories we wouldn't have been able to defeat Karasu once and for all."

Koenma nodded, "About that, I'm not sure if you wanted to know this but, we figured out how Karasu survived your fight and how even I didn't know that he was still alive. His sister Matsura is a professional necromancer; she brought her brother back to life after I had sentenced him to his punishment in the next life. She told us this after she was captured and told her brother had been killed."

"So did his spirit actually move on this time?" asked Yusuke.

"Yes, I had Ayame escort him, just to make sure," answered Koenma.

"Good…because I don't want to go through that again," stated Yusuke.

"Nor do I," agreed Kurama.

"I wouldn't supposed you would, the members of team Toguro have a way of coming back after being killed once," said Koenma, referring to both the younger and elder Toguro coming back to life in previous cases.

"Don't say that! I don't want anymore of those bastards coming back to life," Yusuke looked around as if Bui would suddenly appear in Koenma's office.

"Don't worry Yusuke, I've already gone through the process to make sure the no more members come back from the other world until they are ready to be reborn," explained Koenma knowing that his last statement had made Yusuke and Kurama slightly nervous, the last thing they needed was a visit from the late Sakyo or Bui.

Yusuke heaved a sigh of relief, "Is there anything else you need to tell us?"

"Actually there is one more thing I want to say," Koenma paused looking at Yusuke then Kurama, "Your firing was supposed to be permanent, but it wasn't. I always wondered why you all came back for that first mission."

"It was because you sounded desperate, and you must have gone through hell with your dad to get us back on the job," stated Yusuke as if there was no question why they had come back. Kurama nodded in agreement, Yusuke had a point, Enma was not happy about bringing Yusuke and his team back to be spirit detectives.

"Yes, well. I'm grateful to you all for coming back when I needed you guys the most. I don't know what would have happened if you all had declined. There is no human that has the skills to be spirit detective at this point, we would have had no way to deal with the demons in human world," said Koenma.

"We will always be here to defend our world, even if you didn't call us back to work," replied Kurama.

"Yeah," agreed Yusuke, "Why would we pass up the chance to kick some ass for a good cause?"

Koenma started to laugh a bit, "You two are one of a kind."

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When Kurama arrived at his home lat that night, he noticed that the light in his room was on. He blinked no other lights were on in the house. He thought this was odd, mostly because he had been sure that he had shut off his lamp that morning. Deciding that he must have forgotten and no one noticed it, he entered his house.

Kurama went straight upstairs, his mother and step father had gone out and his younger step-brother had gone to a friend's house for the night, since they had no school the next day. So Kurama had the house all to himself, which was nice, he could enjoy the silence and relax.

He opened the door to his room, and immediately noticed the note lying on his desk. Kurama was surprised and slightly confused; he walked over to his desk and picked up the note. He opened it and read what it said.

_Go to the kitchen_

Kurama cocked an eyebrow at the note, wondering who could have left it. The handwriting was familiar but he couldn't place it. He set the note back on his desk and shut off his lamp. He left his room, shutting the door behind him, and headed back downstairs to the kitchen.

When he entered the kitchen he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, right away. After he flipped on the lights he saw the second note, sitting on the counter. He walked over to the counter and picked up the second note, wondering what this treasure hunt of sorts was all about.

_Outside_

Kurama glanced at the sliding glass door wondering who or what was waiting for him outside.

'_Well there is only one way to find out, isn't there?'_ he thought as he set the note back on the counter.

Following the note's directions he when outside through the sliding glass door that lead to his backyard. He didn't see anything at first, but as he walked further away from his house he saw Hiei leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. Kurama was surprised to see him there.

"Hiei?"

Hiei opened his eyes and looked at Kurama. Taking a breath he walked over to the red head.

Kurama looked confused, "Hiei, what are you doing here?"

"Kurama, there's something I have to tell you," started Hiei slowly, feeling extremely nervous about what he was about to admit. Something he had never been able to tell anyone.

Suddenly, Hiei was forcibly reminded of the dream world that Karasu had created when he had gone to save Kurama. This meeting reminded him a lot of the meeting he had had with 'Dream Suichi.' It would be the same except the roles were to be reversed, if Hiei could say what he wanted to say.

"What do y--" Kurama stopped when he noticed what was in Hiei's right hand, it was a rose. _'Is he?'_

"I'm not sure how to start," admitted Hiei quietly, fingering the rose in his hand, "but I have to say this." He handed the rose to Kurama.

It was then that the red head noticed that the rose was not real; it was made out of crystal. Kurama was positive of what Hiei was trying to tell him.

"Kurama, I --" Hiei was cut off as Kurama captured his lips with a passionate kiss.

"I know," murmured Kurama, "I love you, too."

_Je suis consacré à toi seulement, mon aimé_

A/N: So that's it...That's the end...Goodbye, go away...J/K...So I don't know how much you'll like this ending. I was trying to stay away from clichéd endings, and I don't really know how clichéd this one is. Hopefully, you'll like it and you'll think it did the story justice. I know we've gone through some dry spells and some revamping of old chapters to get here and I just want to say thank you to all who continued to read this story from the very beginning and a thank you to all who just decided to read it now that I've finished...Please review, I would love to know what you think. Oh, by the way...if you want to know what language that italicized text it above this it's French, translate it on Google if you want. Goodbye, and a great many thanks! I'll see you next time...


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